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university  of 

Connecticut 

ibraries 


BOOK    974.645.W723M   c.  1 
WINDHAM    #    MEMORIAL    VOLUME    OF 
BI-CENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION    OF    TOWN 


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MEMORIAL     VOLUME 


OF  THE 


BI-GENTENNIM  GELEBRIlTIOfI 


OF  THE 


TOWH  OF  WIKDHAM,  COINECTICUT, 


CONTAINING    THE 

HISTORICAL    ADDRESSEvS,     POEMS,     AND    A   DESCRIPTION     OF     EVENTS 

CONNECTED  WITH  THE  OBSERVANCE  OF  THE  TWO  HUNDRETH 

ANNIVERSARY    OF    THE   INCORPORATION    OF    THE 

TOWN,    AS    HELD    IN    THE     YEAR     1892. 


IpTablistieci    by    ttie    Committee. 


HARTFORD,     CONN: 

THE  NEW  ENGLAND  HOME  PRINTING  CO. 

1893. 


Windkam  / .  l^^n. 


i  i4-.(o'+':> 


PRELIMINARY     EFFORTS. 


In  the  warning  of  the  annual  town  meeting  of  the  town 
of  Windham,  called  for  October  5th,  1891,  the  fifth  clause, 
inserted  b}^  the  selectmen  on  request  of  interested  citizens, 
called  upon  the  town  to  decide  whether  it  would  au- 
thorize an  appropriation  and  appoint  a  committee  to  pro- 
vide for  the  proper  celebration  of  the  approaching  bi-cen- 
tennial  anniversary,  Ma}^  12th,  1892.  As  October  5th  was 
the  day  of  the  annual  town  election,  action  upon  the  bi- 
centennial was  postponed  one  week,  or  until  October  12th. 
The  town  records  show  that  on  this  latter  date  it  was 

Voted — That  James  E.  Hayden,  John  G.  Keigwin, 
Ivlo3'd  E  Baldwin,  Silas  F.  Loomer,  Edwin  E.  Burnham, 
James  E.  Murray,  John  M.  Hall,  Thomas  J.  Kelley, 
Everett  H  Moulton,  and  E.  Clinton  Winchester  be  em- 
powered to  nominate  a  permanent  committee  consisting  of 
twenty  citizens  of  the  town,  who  are  hereby  instructed  to 
consider  the  matter  contained  in  the  fifth  clause  of  the 
warning  and  devise  means  for  the  performance  of  the  same, 
and  report  to  an  early  future  town  meeting. 

In  accordance  with  this  vote,  the  nominating  committee 
met  October  17th  and  named  as  the  permanent  committee 
of  twenty  citizens,  the  following  :  John  M.  Hall,  Allen  B. 
Lincoln,  Everett  H.  Moulton,  Guilford  Smith.  James  E. 
Murray,  Henry  Earrabee,  James  E.  Hayden,  Edwin  H. 
Hall,  Eugene  S.  Boss,  John  G.  Keigwin,  Charles  J  Fox, 
Llo3^d  E.  Baldwin,  Joel  W.  Webb,  Silas  F.  Loomer, 
Thomas  J.  Kelley,  William  C.  Jillson,  James  Walden. 
John  H.  Moulton,  James  T.  Lynch,    M.  Eugene  Lincoln 


The  permanent  committee  organized  October  24th,  with 
Eugene  S.  Boss  as  president,  Henr}^  I^arrabee  and 
James  E.  Murray  as  active  vice-presidents,  Thomas 
J.  Kellc}'  secretar}^  James  Walden  treasurer,  and  M. 
Eugene  Lincoln,  John  G.  Keigwin,  Charles  J.  Fox,  John 
H.  Moulton  and  James  Walden  as  executive  committee. 

Subsequently,  the  following  list  of  honorary  vice-presi- 
dents was  announced  by  the  permanent  committee  : 

HONORARY  VICE-PRESIDENTS. 

Windham. — ^John  Brown,  Israel  G.  Robinson,  Hardin 
Ho  Fitch,  Elisha  G.  Hammond,  Harry  Boss,  Charles 
Smith,  William  Wales,  William  Swift,  Edwin  E.  Burn- 
ham,  Waldo  Bingham,  Jonathan  Hatch,  Frank  M. 
Lincoln,  Albert  R.  Moulton,  John  A.  Perkins,  Henry 
Page,  Joseph  B.  Bliven,  Marvin  Burnham,  William  Moul- 
ton, Abner  D.  Loring,  Freeman  D.  Spencer,  Lucius  Y. 
Flint,  Jairus  Smith,  Charles  Larrabee,  George  Lathrop, 
Chester  Tilden,  Charles  S.  Bliven,  Rufus  Huntington, 
Edward  L.  Burnham,  Albert  L.  Perry,  Silas  F.  Clark, 
Joseph  C.  Bassett,  Henr}^  Spafford,  W^illiam  C.  Cargel, 
Chauncey  W.  Turner,  Albert  A.  Conant,  Lorin  Lincoln, 
Florimond  DeBru3'cker,  Benjamin  B.  Hoxie,  William  H. 
Osborn,  Norman  Melone}^  J.  Godfrey  La  Palme,  John 
Hickey,  Arthur  P.  Favroe,  Jeremiah  O' Sullivan,  George 
W.  Burnham,  Roderick  Davison,  Albert  Hartson. 

Chaplin — David  A.  Griggs,  John  R.  Utley,  Origen  Ben- 
nett. 

Hampton. — Patrick  H.  Pearl,  Linden  T.  Button,  Da- 
vid A.  Greenslit,  Storrs  Swift,  Palmer  Fenton. 

Mansjield. — Augustus  Storrs,  Lucian  Freeman,  Henry 
Starkweather. 

Scotland. — William  F.  Palmer,  John  P.  Gager,  Henry 
Care}^ 

Julius  G.  Rathbun,  Ward  W.  Jacobs,  Edward  S.  Cleve- 
land, of  Hartford;  Horace  Winslow,  of  Simsbury;  George 
H.  Chase,  of  Stamford;  William  C.  Witter  of  New  York. 

Following  were  the  permanent  and  special  committees 
appointed  : 


PERMANENT  COMMITTEE. 

Chairman. — Eugene  S.  Boss. 

Active  Vice-Presidents. — Henry  I^arrabee,  James  U.  Mur- 
ray. 

Secretary. — Thomas  J.  Kelley. 

Treasurer. — James  Walden. 

Executive  Committee. — M.  Eugene  Lincoln,  John  G. 
Keigwin,  Charles  J.  Fox,  John  H.  Moulton,  James  Wal- 
den. 

Other  Members:— ]o\\n  M.  Hall,  Allen  B.  Lincoln,  Ever- 
ett H.  Moulton,  Guilford  Smith,  Edwin  H.  Hall,  Lloyd 
E.  Baldwin,  Joel  W.  Webb,  Silas  F.  Loonier,  William  C. 
Jillson,  James  To  Lynch. 

SPECIAE    COMMITTEES. 

Fina?ice. — James  Walden,  J.  Griffin  Martin,  Horace  M. 
Chapman,  Jeremiah  O' Sullivan,  Guilford  Smith,  E.  Har- 
low^ Holmes,  Henry  Larrabee,  Frank  F.  Webb,  Edwin 
H.  Hall,  George  T.  Spafford,  Theodore  Potvin,  J.  Cal- 
houn Bugbee. 

Reception. — Eugene  S.  Boss,  Julius  Pinney,  Oliver  H. 
K.  Risley,  John  L-  Hunter,  Arthur  S.  Winchester,  Lu- 
cius J.  Hammond. 

Oration.— ^\X\o\X  B.  Sumner,  George  W.  Meloney,  T. 
Morton  Hills,  Charles  H.  Colgrove,  William  Swift. 

///5/^r>'.— Edwin  A.  Buck,  Waldo  Bingham,  Frank  M. 
Lincoln,  Frank  M.  Wilson,  James  T.  Lynch. 

^^/2V^^,_Horatio  N.  Bill,  George  Challenger,  Charles 
Larrabee,  George  Lathrop. 

Abel  E.  Brooks  of  Hartford,  Joseph  B.  Merrowof  Mans- 
field, Edgar  S.  Lincoln  of  Chaplin,  Roger  Williams  of 
Hampton,  Rufus  T.  Haskins  of  Scotland. 

Industrial  Exhibit —^o\m  Scott,  Albert  R.  Morrison, 
Samuel  L.  Burlingham,  J.  Dwight  Chaffee,  Thomas  C. 
Chandler,  Edgar  S.  Washburn,  W^illiam  H.  Latham, 
George  F.  Taylor,  Arthur  G.  Turner. 

Decoration— ^^orz^  H.  Purinton,  Thomas  Ashton, 
Hugh  C.  Murray,  Everett  H,  Moulton,  E.  Clinton  Win- 
chester, James  A.  McAvoy,  John  Bowman,    Marshall  Til- 


6 

den,  John  C.  Lincoln,  Albert  S.  Turner,  John  G.  Keig- 
win,  Joseph  E.  Monast,  Charles  E.  Carpenter,  Amos  T. 
Fowler. 

Printiiig  and  Advertising . — ^John  A.  McDonald,  Arthur 
I.  Bill,  Allen  B.  Lincoln,  William  J.  Sweeney,  Charles 
R.  Utley. 

Programme. — ^John  M.  Hall,  Edward  F.  Casey,    Homer 

E.  Remington,    John  L.  Walden,  M.  Eugene  Lincoln. 
Memorial. — George    W.     Burnham,      David    C.    Card, 

Frederick  Rogers,  John  H.   Moulton,    Charles  A.    Capen, 
William  H.  Osborn,  Frank  H.  Blish,  John  F.  Care}^ 
Eve7iing  Entertainme7it . — Walter  D.    Brigham,    Dennis 

F.  Broderick,  Jerome  B.  Baldwin,  Adelard  D.  David, 
Huber  Clark. 

Fireworks  and  Amuseme7it. — James  H.  Ross,  Daniel  P. 
Dunn,  George  H.  Backus,  Henry  L.  Edgarton,  William 
N.  Potter. 

Music. — James  E.  Murray,  Noah  D.  Webster,  Charles 
B.  Jordan,  William  C.  Jillson,  H.  Clinton  Lathrop. 

Collatio7i. — ^Joel  W.  Webb,  Charles  L.  Boss,  Luke 
Flynn,  3.  Chauncey  Hooker,  J.  Octave  Blanchette,  Wil- 
liam C.  Backus,  Charles  Larrabee,  Jr.,  Lester  M.  Hartson, 
Samuel  E.  Amidon. 

Military  Parade. — Lloyd  E.  Baldwin,  John  H.  Morri- 
son, Herbert  R.  Chappell,  Patrick  Fitzpatrick,  Charles  J. 
Fox. 

Fife7na7i's  Parade. — Charles  E.  Leonard,  James  Tighe, 
Fred  S.  Young,  John  J.  Henry,  James  E.  Hanlon,  John 
T.  Bradshaw. 

Citizen' s  Pa7^ade. — Charles  B.  Pomeroy,  James  E.  Hag- 
gerty,  George  E.  Stiles,  George  K.  Nason,  Moses  Be- 
lair. 

The  original  purpose  in  all  these  preparations  was  to 
hold  the  celebration  in  Willimantic,  on  May  12th,  1892, 
the  bi-centennial  anniversary  of  the  incorporation  of  the 
town  ;  the  exercises  to  consist  of  historical  addresses,  ex- 
hibition of  relics,  etc.,  in  the  forenoon;  a  grand  military 
and   civic    parade,    with    the  local  military,   firemen,  and 


fraternal  bodies  in  line,  also  an  industrial  pageant  of  local 
industries,  the  Putnam  Phalanx  of  Hartford,  the  Third 
Regiment,  C.  N.  G.,  the  Governor's  Foot  Guards  of 
Hartford,  and  perhaps  other  outside  organizations,  all  to 
make  an  imposing  demonstration  ;  and  to  wind  up  with  a 
grand  banquet  or  entertainment  with  fireworks  in  the 
evening. 

The  town  was  asked  to  appropriate  $2500  for  expenses, 
and  it  w^as  proposed  to  raise  from  $1500  to  $2000  more  by 
private  subscription.  But  the  town  could  not  legally  ap- 
propriate any  sum  for  such  a  purpose  without  legislative 
authority,  and  the  famous  legislative  "deadlock"  of  1891- 
'93  w^as  existing  ;  so  it  became  necessary  for  private  citi- 
zens to  assure  the  $2500  desired  from  the  town  until  the 
IvCgislature  should  in  the  future  authorize  the  town  to  make 
the  appropriation.  The  sum  of  $2500  was  voted  by  the 
town,  March  3rd,  1892,  with  proviso  that  it  would  be  paid 
to  the  bi-centennial  committee  when  the  Legislature  should 
validate  it.  On  this  basis  James  Walden  patriotically  set 
out  to  secure  the  $2500  guaranteed  from  100  citizens  who 
should  pledge  $25  each.  He  secured  67  of  the  necessary 
100  without  much  difficulty,  but  it  was  seen  that  this 
plan  would  hinder  the  raising  by  private  subscription  of 
funds  thought  to  be  needed  over  and  above  the  $2500 
guarantee  required  to  protect  the  town's  appropriation. 
It  now  began  to  appear  that  there  was  considerable  differ- 
ence of  opinion  among  citizens  as  to  the  historic  appro- 
priateness of  the  kind  of  celebration  proposed.  The  citi- 
zens of  Windham  Centre, and  with  them  not  a  few  residents 
of  Willimantic,  felt  that  Old  Windham  Green,  which  had 
been  the  center  of  the  town's  inception  and  growth,  and  the 
scene  of  its  chief  activities  for  nearly  150  of  the  200  years  of 
its  incorporate  life,  should  be  made  more  prominent  in  the 
celebration  ;  and  many  thought,  indeed,  that  the  celebra- 
tion should  be  held  there.  Judge  John  M.  Hall  mean- 
while suggested  that  rather  than  expend  so  much  money 
for  a  parade,  it  were  better  to  donate  it  towards  a  Memorial 
town  building,   which    should    at   once   meet   the  town's 


8 

present  needs  and  celebrate  the  bi- centennial  event  in  a 
worthy  and  enduring  manner.  At  a  town  meeting  held 
March  26th,  1892,  the  permanent  committee  reported  that 
"we  find  ver}^  little  public  enthusiasm  on  the  subject"  of 
the  proposed  celebration  and  "we  refer  the  matter  back  to 
the  town  for  further  instructions."  The  town  meeting 
therefore  ' '  Voted,  that  the  whole  matter  relating  to  the  bi- 
centennial celebration  be  abandoned."  But  John  M.  Hall, 
C.  A.  Capen,  E.  H.  Holmes,  C.  E.  Carpenter  and  J. 
O' Sullivan  were  appointed  a  committee  to  examine  sites 
and  present  estimates  and  cost  of  a  suitable  Memorial 
building.  At  another  meeting  held  April  30,  the  commit- 
tee reported  that  they  had  examined  various  available 
sites.  No  definite  action  was  taken  but  the  committee  was 
continued  with  instructions  to  examine  further  into  the 
subject  and  report  at  such  future  time  as  seemed  expedient. 
No  further  report  has  been  had  to  date. 

Many  were  disappointed  that  the  plans  for  celebrating 
the  bi-centennial  celebration  were  abandoned.  The  resi- 
dents of  Old  Windham  Green  promptly  resolved  that  there 
should  be  a  celebration,  and  one  of  a  character  suited  to 
the  occasion.  The}-  therefore  went  to  work  with  enthu- 
siasm and  energy,  and  on  Friday  evening,  March  31,  a 
meeting  was  held  in  School  Hall,  at  Windham  Center,  to 
perfect  organization  for  the  event. 

The  following  officers  were  elected  :  President,  Guilford 
Smith ;  vice-president,  Henry  Earrabee ;  secretary  and 
treasurer,  Frank  F.  Webb  ;  general  committee,  Guilford 
Smith,  Henr}^  Earrabee,  Frank  F.  Webb,  Charles  Earra- 
bee,  Jr.,  George  Eathrop,  George  Challenger,  E.  H. 
Holmes,  James  G.  Martin,  H.  C.  Eathrop. 

Honorary  Vice-Presidents — Elisha  Hammond,  Thomas 
Ramsdell,  John  Perkins,  Marvin  Burnham,  Andrew  Frink, 
William  Wales,  Waldo  Bingham,  Rufus  Rood,  Henr}^ 
Page,  Charles  Earrabee,  Jairus  Smith,  Albert  Perr}^, 
Rufus  Huntington,  Charles  Smith,  Jonathan  Hatch,  Free- 
man D.  Spencer,  Henry  Spafford,  Albert  Hartson,  E.  E. 
Baldwin,  John  Brown,  Harry  Boss,  George  W.  Burnham, 


9 

A.  D.  Loring,  H.  H.  Fitch,  F.  M.  Lincoln,  J.  C.  Bassett, 
Lorin  Uncoln,  Chester  Tilden,  E.  E.  Bnrnhani  and  Israel 
Robinson. 

Special  committees  on  finance,  programme,  decorations, 
relics  and  reception  were  appointed  as  follows  : 

Reception  Committee— J.  G.  Martin,  Wm.  vSwift,  A.  S. 
Winchester,  E.  P.  Ken5^on,  Mrs.  Ann  H.  Johnson,  Mrs. 
Mary  D.  Taintor,  Miss  Mary  Perkins  and  Miss  Bertie 
Campbell. 

Decoration  Committee— L.  J.  Hammond,  F.  K.  Hoyt, 
E.  G.  Frink,  Wm.  Earrabee,  Wm.  P.  Barstow,  Robert 
Stanton,  Chester  Woodworth,  Miss  Josie  Bingham,  Mrs. 
Julia  Arnold,  E.  S.  Yergason,  Miss  Mary  Perkins,  Mrs. 
Henry  Hatch  and  Mrs.  Chester  Jewett. 

Financial  Committee-r-Harlow  Holmes,  Henry  Hatch, 
Chester  Jewett,  Eester  Hartson  and  Miss  Emma  Kenyon. 

Programme  Committee — H.  C.  Eathrop,  Dr.  F.  E. 
Guild,  T.  J.  Kelley,  G.  H.  Alford  and  Mrs.  F.  F.  Webb. 

Collation  Committee — Charles  Earrabee,  Jr.,  George 
Challenger,  G.  B.  Peabody,  C.  H.  Wilson,  Arthur  Wil- 
liams, Mrs.  Guilford  Smith,  Mrs.  Henry  Earrabee,  Mrs. 
Eliza  Eoomis  and  Mrs.  G.  B.  Peabody. 

Relic  Committee — George  Eathrop,  Horatio  N.  Bill, 
Prentiss  Eewis,  Miss  Julia  Swift,  Miss  Emma  Earrabee, 
Mrs.  Chas.  Baker,  Everett  H.  Moulton,  DeWitt  Eockman 
and  Mrs.  Sarah  Holmes. 

Town  Committees — Chaplin:  John  Griggs,  Edgar  S. 
Eincoln,  Origen  Bennett;  Hampton:  David  Greenslit,  Hen- 
ry Burnham,  Geo.  M.  Holt;  Mansfield:  Dr.  E.  G.  Sumner, 
I.  P.  Fenton,  Prof.  E.  P.  Chamberlain;  Scotland:  Wm.  F. 
Palmer,  Amos  S^_Chapman,  C.  M.  Smith. 

Thomas  Snell  Weaver,  editor  of  the  Willimantic  Jour- 
nal, was  appointed  historian  for  the  first  century  ;  Allen  B. 
Eincoln  of  the  New  England  Home,  for  the  second  cen- 
tury. It  was  planned  to  have  an  outdoor  celebration  on 
the  old  training  ground,  Windham  Green,  Wednesday, 
June  8,  as  there  was  not  time  to  complete  preparations  by 


10 

May  1 2  It  was  announced  that  citizens  from  all  sections 
of  the  town,  and  from  those  towns  which  were  offshoots 
from  the  original  settlement,  were  invited  to  unite  m  the 
ceremonies  of  the  day. 


THE    CATHOLIC    CELEBRATION. 


While  these  preparations  were  going  forward,  another 
event  occurred  which  should  be  recorded  in  this  Memorial 
volume.  It  had  been  the  intention  of  the  Rev.  Florimond 
De  Bru3^cker  of  the  local  St.  Joseph's  Roman  Catholic 
parish  to  signalize  the  bi-centennial  celebration  as  at  first 
proposed  in  Willimantic  by  unfurling  on  that  day  the 
American  flag  over  the  St.  Joseph's  parochial  school. 
When  the  Willimantic  celebration  was  abandoned,  Father 
De  Bru3'cker  at  once  determined  to  change  the  flag-raising 
incident  into  a  formal  recognition  of  the  bi-centennial 
date.  Accordingly  the  bi-centennial  was  celebrated  under 
Catholic  auspices  on  Saturday,  May  14,  and  the  Williman- 
tic Journal  of  Ma}-  20,  gave  the  following  account  of  it : 

Saturday  afternoon  was  made  patriotic  and  eloquent  by 
the  Catholic  citizens  of  Willimantic.  Shortly  after  2 
o'clock  a  procession  under  escort  of  our  local  Co.  E,  Third 
Regiment,  C.  N.  G.,  Capt.  Robinson,  made  a  half  hour's 
parade  through  Main  street,  attracting  a  great  number  of 
sightseers.  The  Montgomery  Hose  Company,  St.  Jean 
De  Baptiste  Society,  Ancient  Order  of  Hibernians  and 
Knights  of  Columbus,  all  local  organizations,  were  in  line 
and  made  a  creditable  showing.  When  the  yard  of  St. 
Joseph's  Parochial  school  was  reached  the  procession  filed 
in  and  with  the  thousand  or  more  citizens  already  there 
made  up  a  fine  audience  for  the  speakers  to  address.  The 
buildings  were  trimmed  wdth  the  national  colors  and  on 
the  north  section  of  the  broad  verandah  were  ranged  the 
children  of  the  school  who  sang  patriotic  airs  in  the  in- 
terim of  the  speakers  and  sang  them  well,  their  fresh,  clear 
voices  ringing  out  with  a  true,  patriotic  ring. 


12 

The  exercises  were  conducted  b}"  Rev.  Fr.  De  Bru^xker, 
who  gave  a  brief  address  of  welcome  and  expressed  the 
hope  that  all  present  would,  b}^  the  celebration  of  the  bi- 
centennar}^  of  the  town  of  Windham  in  this  manner  come 
to  a  better  understanding  of  each  other.  The  children 
present  would  be  impressed  b}^  the  occasion  with  a  love 
for  the  flag  and  for  the  country  and  gain  a  sense  of  the 
great  responsibilities  which  would  rest  upon  them  as  the^^ 
grew  into  citizenship.  The  flag  was  then  unfurled  b}' 
Thomas  Ashton,  a  veteran  Union  soldier,  and  as  it  floated 
gracefulh^  to  the  breeze  a  shower  of  red,  white  and  blue 
stars  fell  from  its  folds.  It  was  greeted  with  cheers  and 
the  song  "Columbia, the  Gem  of  the  Ocean"  by  the  school 
children.  Father  De  Brujxker  then  ver}^  pleasantly  intro- 
duced Commander  B.  E.  Smith  of  the  Grand  Army  of 
Connecticut  and  a  resident  of  Willimantic,  as  one  who 
knew  what  it  was  to  maintain  the  flag.  Commander  Smith 
spoke  of  the  sentiment  of  patriotism  which  gathered  them 
in  the  place  and  said  that  there  was  no  higher  motive  than 
that  of  lo3^alty  to  one's  countr}^  and  flag,  and  spoke  of  the 
knowledge  the  Union  veterans  had  of  the  depth  of  that 
sentiment  which  impelled  men  to  la}'  down  their  lives  for 
its  honor. 

Dr.  A.  D.  David  then  addressed  the  French- American 
citizens  in  the  audience  in  their  own  own  language.  He 
told  his  fellow  countr^-men  that  while  the}^  need  not  for  a 
moment  forget  the  countrj^  of  their  nativity,  3'et  the}' 
should  love  the  country  of  their  adoption  with  an  affection 
that  comes  to  the  patriotic  heart  from  a  love  of  all  that  is 
noble  and  enduring.  He  spoke  of  the  greatest  and  best 
loved  of  all  Frenchmen  in  America,  I^afayette,  and  closed 
with  an  impassioned  appeal  for  the  maintenance  of  the 
freedom  he  helped  to  establish  here. 

Principal  A.  B.  Morrill  of  the  Normal  school,  spoke  of 
the  peculiarity  of  the  gathering  as  one  indigenous  to  this 
countr3\  Men  of  all  beliefs  and  nationalities  meet  here 
for  a  common  purpose  and  on  common  ground.  This  re- 
public was  not  the  first  of  the  great  republics  of  the  world, 
but  it  differed  from  all  the  republics  which  have  passed 
away  in  the  fact  that  it  conserved  the  welfare  of  all  the 
people.  So  long  as  that  principle  was  guarded,  the  re- 
public would  be  safe  and  there  would  be  a  patriotic 
acquiescence  in  the  will  of  the  majorit}'. 

James  T.  U3mch  referred  to  the  settlement  of  Old  Wind- 
ham two  hundred  years  ago  and  to  the  fact  that  her  sons 
had  taken  part  in  all  four  of  the  wars  which  had  occurred 


13 

ill  the  country,  and  besides  had  the  battle  of  the  frogs  to 
care  for.  He  was  proud  of  the  history  of  the  grand  old 
town  and  if  there  should  ever  be  another  war  in  which  the 
honor  of  the  country  should  be  at  stake  there  would  l^e  no 
Methodists,  Baptists,  Congregationalists,  or  Catholics, 
none  but  American  citizens,  possessed  with  one  i)urpose 
and  sentiment. 

Rev.  Fr.  J.  J.  Quinn  of  CoUinsville  made  an  eloquent 
address  in  which  he  traced  the  influence  of  the  Catholic 
church  in  the  struggle  for  the  republic,  and  paid  a  glowing 
tribute  to  Charles  Carroll  of  Carrollton,  a  signer  of  the 
Declaration  of  Independence,  who  staked  more  upon  the 
issue  than  any  other  signer,  as  he  was  the  wealthiest  of 
them  all.  Here  in  this  republic  there  was  no  aristocracy, 
but  that  of  brains,  honesty  and  ability  ;  the  republic  would 
stand  if  we  added  patriotism,  religion. 

Gen.  Thomas  McManus  of  Hartford  made  a  pleasant 
and  humorous  address  and  after  thanks  had  been  returned 
to  the  audience  for  its  attention  and  presence,  by  Rev.  Fr. 
De  Bru3'cker,  three  cheers  were  given  for  the  flag  and  the 
celebration  w^as  over. 


ON   WINDHAM   GREEN. 


The  celebration  on  Windham  Green  occurred  as 
planned,  on  Wednesday,  June  8,  1892.  It  was  thoroughl}' 
"Windhamese"  in  all  respects,  every  feature  of  the  pro- 
gramme having  significance  as  to  Windham  and  the  towns 
that  have  sprung  from  her,  and  all  the  speakers  being  of 
Windham  birth  or  connections.  The  Willimantic  Jour- 
nal of  May  10,  made  substantiall}^  the  following  report  of 
the  proceedings: — 

A  modest  and  altogether  appropriate  celebration  of  the 
two  hundredth  anniversary  of  the  incorporation  of  the 
town  of  Windham,  was  that  held  on  Windham  Green, 
Wednesday,  the  entire  da}^  being  passed  in  the  stud}'  of 
the  grand  history'  of  the  town  from  its  earliest,  down 
through  colonial,  revolutionary  and  the  later  times.  To 
begin  with  the  citizens  of  the  Green  had  made  their 
dwellings  and  surroundings  brilliant  with  the  stars  and 
stripes,  while  the  skies  were  dimmed  just  the  slightest  to 
shield  the  sun's  glare,  and  the  trees  in  their  early  leaf  of 
tender  green,  swa^^ed  as  if  in  kindly  benison  upon  the 
gathering.  In  every  direction  from  the  tastefulh^  decor- 
ated speakers'  stand,  [which  was  erected  on  the  Green,  al- 
most directly  across  the  road  from  the  church  parlors]  his- 
torical landmarks,  appropriately  recognized,  and  the  beau- 
tiful arrangements  of  bunting,  pleased  the  eye.  Promi- 
nent among  the  decorations  w^ere  those  upon  and 
about  the  Colonel  Dyer  mansion,  where  General  Wash- 
ington stopped  on  his  visit  to  the  town.  Bunting  was 
tastefully  displayed,  a  goddess  of  liberty  stood  upon  the 
lawn,  while  a  huge  frog  stood  a  non-croaking  sentinel  at 
the  gateway.  The  house  is  now  the  propert}'  of  L.  J. 
Hammond,    and     here  the     speakers   and    distinguished 


15 

guests  were  received  and  entertained  by  Mrs.  Ann  John- 
son, as  hostess,  and  Arthur  S.  Winchester  as  chairman  of 
the  reception  committee.  It  was  a  beautiful  spot  wherein 
to  pass  an  hour,  conjuring  up  visions  of  what  had  passed 
beneath  its  roof  in  the  trying  days  of  those  grand  men 
who  had  so  much  to  do  with  carrying  forward  the  revo- 
lutionary war  in  New  England.  Near  by  was  the  Colonel 
Elderkin  mansion,  fittingly  draped  by  its  present  occu- 
pant, William  Swift,  while  down  the  Nipmuck  path,  the 
Joshua  Elderkin  house,  the  old  Webb  place,  the  Abbe 
house  and  others  were  hung  with  bunting.  The  old  tav- 
ern, now  kept  by  George  Challenger,  was  properly  deco- 
rated and  the  residences  of  John  Perkins  and  Charlotte 
Eathrop,  Willard  Beckwith,  Chauncey  Wilson,  Rufus 
Rood,  Dr.  Smith,  and  others  were  tastefully  trimmed. 
At  the  Willimantic  entrance  to  the  Green  was  flung  a 
beautiful  arch  of  red,  white  and  blue,  with  the  legends 
"May,  1692 — Welcome— May,  1892."  Up  on  a  branch  of 
an  elm  tree  in  front  of  the  old  Staniford  tavern,  sat  the 
little  fat  image  of  Bacchus,  as  nearly  as  could  be  in  the 
location  where  he  sat  for  so  many  years,  until  the  old 
tree  blew  down,  and  that  insatiable  relic  hunter,  A.  E. 
Brooks,  captured  him.  Mr.  Brooks  gave  the  little  fellow 
a  car  ride  from  Hartford  on  the  earl}^  train  that  he  might 
once  again  feast  his  eyes  on  familiar  Windham  Green. 
Down  in  the  old  cemetery  John  Cates,  the  first  settler, 
slept  beneath  the  stars  and  stripes,  and  if  he  was  a  fugi- 
tive, because  of  offenses  to  the  crown  of  England,  his 
spirit  must  have  looked  down  with  kindness  upon  the  em- 
blem which  restless  men,  like  he,  had,  3'ears  after  his 
death,  placed  as  an  insignia  of  religious  and  political 
freedom. 

At  sunrise  the  booming  of  cannon  and  the  ringing  of 
the  churchbells  announced  the  opening  of  the  day,  and 
shortly  after  8  o'clock  the  Nathan  Hale  drum  corps 
of  Coventr}^  with  their  continental  uniforms,  woke  the 
echoes  of  the  Green  as  they  have  not  been  since  the 
regimental  training  days  of  General  Baldwin  Hop- 
kins and  Allen's  band  of  Norwich  was  soon  in  tune,  with 
Charley  Hatch  of  Hartford  as  leader,  a  Windham  boy 
showing  his  Windham  friends  what  good  out-of-door 
music  should  be.  Shortly  after  10  o'clock  the  band  led 
the  procession  of  speakers  and  guests  from  the  Colonel 
Dyer  mansion  to  the  speaking  stand,  where  after  a  brief 
concert  by  the  band,  Guilford  Smith,  chairman  of  the  day, 
rapped  to  order,   and   the  exercises   began.     Rev.    S.    J. 


16 

Horton,  D.  D.,  of  Cheshire,  formerly  of  Windham,  read  a 
brief  selection  from  an  old  version  of  the  Scripture, 
printed  in  1589,  before  the  King  James  translation,  which 
had  been  preser\^ed  by  the  Devotion  family  and  is  now  the 
property  of  Mrs.  I^ee  Lathrop  of  this  city.  Following 
are  the  passages  which  he  read  from  Hebrews  i.,  10,  11, 
12,  xiii.,    I.  2. 

And,  Thou,  Lord,  in  the  beginning  haft  laid  the  foundation  of  the 
earth  ;  and  the  heavens  are  the  works  of  thine  hands. 

They  Ihall  perifli,  but  thou  remaineft;  and  they  all  fhall  wax  old 
as  doth  a  garment : 

And  as  a  vefture  flialt  thou  fold  them  up  and  they  fliall  be 
changed  ;  but  thy  years  fhall  not  fail. 

Let  brotherly  love  continue. 

Be  not  forgetful  to  entertain  ftrangers  :  for  thereby  fome  have 
entertained  angels  unawares. 

Mr.  Horton  then  offered  an  appropriate  prayer,  after 
which  Chairman  Smith  made  a  cordial  address  of  wel- 
come to  the  sons  of  old  Windham,  who  had  gath- 
ered for  this  celebration,  and  to  the  friends  from 
other  towns,  w^ho  had  come  to  look  upon  and  gather  les- 
sons from  the  day.  He  then  introduced  Thomas  Snell 
Weaver,  and  paid  a  compliment  to  his  father,  the  late 
William  L,.  Weaver,  to  whom  the  towm  owed  so  much  for 
its  knowledge  of  the  past.  Mr.  Weaver  reviewed  the 
principal  events  of  the  first  centur}'  of  the  town's  history. 
A  short  selection  by  the  band  followed  Mr.  Weaver's 
paper,  after  which  a  poem,  "At  Home,"  composed  by 
Miss  Josephine  M.  Robbins  of  Chaplin,  w^as  read  by  Miss 
Nellie  M.  Griggs  of  Chaplin. 

Hon.  Edward  S.  Cleveland  of  Hartford,  senator  from 
the  first  Connecticut  district,  a  native  of  Hampton,  and  of 
good  Windham  stock,  made  a  characteristic  address.  He 
felt  most  highly  complimented  in  being  invited  to  be  pres- 
ent and  w^hatever  inspiration  he  had  for  w^hat  he  might 
say  had  been  gathered  from  contemplation  of  the  events 
outlined  in  the  historical  address  to  wdiich  he  had  listened. 
He  paid  tribute  to  the  patriotism  of  the  town  that  had  been 
so  full  of  heroic  spirit,  that  had  helped  to  maintain  the 
rights  of  the  people  and  uphold  the  flag  in  all  the  wars. 
He  closed  with  an  eloquent  apostrophe  to  the  nation's 
flag — "And  now  let  us  with  town,  state  and  national  pride, 
praise  with  songs  of  pride  our  ancestors  w^ho  guarded  that 
flag  from  the  foeman's  steel." 


17 

Led  by  the  band  the  audience  joined  in  'America" 
and  an  hour's  recess  was  had  for  dinner  and  a  social 
gathering.  There  was  abundant  preparation  for  feeding 
the  2,000  or  more  people  who  were  present.  The  speak- 
ers and  guests  were  entertained  in  the  chapel  of  the  Con- 
gregational church,  where  the  ladies  served  a  banquet 
that  would  have  done  honor  to  the  king  of  all  caterers, 
whoever  he  may  be.  Grace  was  said  by  Rev.  George  vStearns.' 
son  of  a  former  pastor  of  the  Congregational  church  of 
Windham.  During  the  intermission  there  were  a  great 
many  hand  shakings,  cordial  greetings  and  meetings  of 
friends  long  since  separated.  It  was  a  profitable  hour  for 
renewing  acquaintanceships  and  for  brief  expressions  of 
pride  in  the  record  of  Old  Windham. 

The  afternoon  sendees  began  with  the  reading  of  a  re- 
view of  the  history  of  the  second  century  of  Windham,  by 
Allen  Bennett  Lincoln,  editor  of  The  New  England 
Home  of  Hartford,  and  son  of  the  late  Allen  Lincoln. 

Then  followed  a  poem  appropriate  to  the  occasion, 
written  and  delivered  by  the  Rev.  Tlieron  Brown  of  the 
editorial  staff  of  The  Youths'  Companion,  a   son   of  John 

A.  Brown  of  Mt.  Hope,  and  who  was  born  in  Willimantic. 
At  the  close  of  Mr.  Brown's   poem,    Edwin  B.    Gager, 

son  of  Lewis  Gager  of  Scotland,  but  now  of  Birm- 
ingham, and  judge  of  the  Derb}- town  court,  spoke  on  be- 
half of  Scotland. 

Amos  L.  Hatheway,  Esq.,  of  Boston,  son  of  A.  Morris 
Hatheway,  and  maternal  grandson  of   the    Rev.  Cornelius 

B.  Everest,  pastor  of  the  Windham  Congregational  church 
in  1815-27,  spoke  of  the  significance  of  the  life  and  char- 
acter of  the  old  New  England  town. 

Charles  Smith  Abbe  of  Boston,  a  son  of  Windham  and 
an  actor  in  the  Boston  Museum  company,  gave  a  most 
felicitous  bit  of  humor  in  an  imaginar}-  walk  and  conver- 
sation with  John  Gates,  the  first  settler,  in  which  were 
conjured  up  many  merry  things  which  kept  the  audience, 
in  splendid  humor.  It  was  a  delightfully  conceived  fan- 
tasy, quaint,  original  and  very  funny,  making  a  jovial 
ending  to  a  day  in  which  the  eloquence  of  fact  and 
eloquence  of  sentiment  had  vied  with  each  other  for  the 
glory  of  two  hundred  years  old    Windham. 

The  historical  addresses  of  Messrs.  Weaver  and  Lin- 
coln, the  poems  of  Miss  Robbins  and  the  Rev.  Mr.  Brown, 
and  the  addresses  of  Messrs.  Gager,  Hatheway  and  Aljbe, 
are  given  in  full  in  the  following  pages.      There  is  also 


18 

printed  in  full  the  poem  of  Miss  Jane  Ga}^  Fuller  of  Scot- 
land, which  was  written  for  the  occasion  but  by  some  mis- 
understanding did  not  reach  the  committee's  hands  in  time 
to  be  read  at  the  celebration.  The  Journal  thus  summa- 
rized the  impromptu  addresses  of  the  other  speakers  of  the 
da}': — 

Rowland  Swift  president  of  the  American  National  bank  of 
Hartford  and  a  native  of  "Ponde  Towne,"  spoke  briefl}' 
of  the  close  relationships  which  were  found  in  the  old  col- 
onial times,  and  told  the  story  of  the  Windham  girl  who 
held  the  candle  while  her  father  shod  the  horses  of  Lu- 
zan's  cavalr3mien  in  the  Revolutionar}^  war,  and  to  whom 
was  presented  the  little  flag  of  tri-co.lor  which  was  buried 
with  her  more  than  four  score  years  after. 

Dr.  George  Austin  Bowen  of  Woodstock,  master  of  the 
Connecticut  State  Grange,  spoke  of  the  agricultural  inter- 
ests which  were  the  pride  of  the  town  of  Windham,  and  of 
the  great  force  and  power  the  early  farming  community 
had. 

The  Old  Windham  Bank  Building,  with  the  legend  "site 
of  the  Windham  County  Court  House"  over  the  doorway, 
and  with  another  legend  near  by  "site  of  the  public  whip- 
ping post,"  was  converted  into  a  museum  of  relics,  to 
which  many  of  the  families  of  the  town  contributed  large- 
ly. There  were  antique  portraits,  books,  newspapers, 
"samplers"  and  a  thousand  and  one  things  that  space 
does  not  allow  of  chronicling  here.  It  was  visited  all  day 
long  by  crowds,  man}^  times  it  being  almost  impossible  to 
move  about,  because  of  the  number  of  interested  persons 
examining  the  many  curious  and  historical  articles  of 
value.  Further  reference  to  the  relics  exhibited  will  be 
found  elsewhere. 

There  were  many  invited  guests,  mainly  those  who  were 
from  Windham  originally,  or  were  interested  in  historical 
matters.  Among  them  were  Miss  Ellen  F.  Larned,  author 
of  the  History  of  Windham  County,  Jonathan  Flint  Morris 
of  Hartford,  treasurer  of  the  Connecticut  Historical  So- 
ciety, Rowland  Swift,  E.  S.  Cleveland,  P.  H.  Woodward, 
J.  G.  Rathbun,  Chester  Burnham,  John  M.  Ney,  Hart 
Talcott,    Andrew    F.    Gates,    Ward   W.   Jacobs,  Nathan 


19 

Starkweather  and  many  others  from  Hartford  ;  Henr\ 
Allen,  Hon.  and  Mrs.  Lucius  Brown,  Reuben  S.  Bartlett, 
S.  T.  Holbrook,  Wm.  C.  Lamnon,  Arthur  B.  Webb,  James 
P.  Lathrop  and  others  from  Norwich;  Mr.  and  Mrs.  H. 
C.  Starkweather  of  New  York,  granddaughter  of  Zephan- 
iah  Swdft  of  the  Windham  county  court  and  minister  to 
France;  Mrs.  E.  H.  Williams,  widow  of  Judge  Williams 
of  Grand  Meadow,  la.,  Mrs.  Emeline  L.  Perkins  wife  of 
Judge  George  Perkins  of  Fond  du  Lac,  Wis.,  both  sisters 
of  Henr}^  and  Charles  Larrabee  of  Windham;  J.  R. 
Cogswell  of  Putnam,  a  son  of  Windham  ;  Rev.  Horace 
Wmslow  of  Simsbury  a  former  pastor  of  the  Willimantic 
Congregational  church. 


WINDHAM'S  FIRST  CENTURY. 


BY   THOMAS   SNEI.!.   WEAVER. 


Mr.  President,  Ladies  and  Geyitlemeji  : 

In  briefly  sketching  the  progress  of  Old  Windham  dur- 
ing the  First  Century  of  its  existence,  it  will  be  necessar}- 
to  go  ver}^  lightl}^  over  the  surface  of  events,  otherwise 
your  patience  would  be  wearied,  so  full  of  rich  detail  were 
those  eventful  hundred  years.  There  can  but  be,  however, 
in  a  gathering  like  this  for  the  express  purpose  of  study- 
ing history,  more  than  a  passing  interest  in  the  general 
movement  of  the  past,  as  it  affects  a  locality  full  of  tradi- 
tion and  deep  interest,  like  the  one  where  we  are  now  met. 
Before  entering  upon  the  work,  however,  a  single  personal 
allusion  will  be  pardoned.  To  the  indefatigable  research 
of  my  honored  father,  the  late  William  ly.  Weaver,  car- 
ried on  under  discouragements  of  an  invalid  life,  with  all 
matter  at  arms  length  from  his  table,  and  painstakingly 
and  carefully  pursued  for  more  than  six  consecutive  years, 
I  am  indebted  for  the  greater  amount  of  the  data  which 
will  be  used.  I  but  feebly  represent  his  undaunted  his- 
torical spirit,  his  energy  and  his  love  for  Old  Windham, 
the  town  of  his  birth. 

To  begin  at  once  then,  Joshua  Attawanhood,  son  of 
Uncas,  the  great  Redskin  of  Eastern  Connecticut,  being 
sick  in  body  but  able  and  of  disposing  mind,  February  29, 
1675,  by  will  granted  to  sixteen  Norwich  gentlemen  of 
whom  John  Mason  was  chief,   a  tract  about   eight   miles 


21 

square,  the  northeastern  boundary  of  which  was  at  A])pa- 
quogue  Pond  near  the  northeastern  corner  of  tlic  now 
town  of  Hampton,  and  disposed  to  the  westward  and 
southward  to  the  Willimantic  and  Shetucket  rivers.  He 
died  while  his  father,  the  greater  chieftain  was  yet  living, 
and  the  proprietors  of  the  tract  came  into  possession  of 
their  grant  May  27,  1676.  The  Nipmuck  Indians,  not  a 
very  powerful  branch  of  the  Mohegans,  occupied  the  land 
in  sparse  numbers,  probably  coming  to  the  rivers  in  the 
spring  when  the  fishing  was  good,  for  they  had  some  of 
the  latter  day  instincts,  and  some  of  them  remaining  to 
plant  and  raise  corn  in  the  opens  which  were  near  the 
rivers.  The  greater  portion  of  the  tract  was  wooded  and 
the  path  which  the  Nip  mucks  travelled  in  their  journey- 
ings  to  and  from  Uncas's  headquarters  near  Norwich  is 
now  3^our  Main  street,  according  to  the  best  tradition.  No 
steps  w^ere  taken  to  open  up  the  tract  to  settlement  imme- 
diately, as  King  Philip  was  making  a  great  deal  of 
trouble  across  the  northern  border  and  there  was  a  con- 
tinual movement  of  Indians  over  the  tract  for  some  years 
until  that  plucky  redskin  was  fully  cared  for.  Even  then 
there  was  reluctance  about  settling  here  because  of  the 
possible  trouble  over  Indian  titles,  which  had  been  boldly 
disputed  b}^  Sir  Edmund  Andross,  the  colonial  governor, 
who  regarded  them  as  no  better  than  the  scratch  of  a  bear's 
paw.  Andross,  however,  had  his  opinions  very  much 
modified  by  one  Wadsworth.  He  was  the  man  who 
thought  to  steal  the  charter  of  Connecticut  colony.  He 
changed  his  mind  on  that  also. 

The  sixteen  Norwich  gentlemen  were  Captain  John 
Mason,  Daniel  Mason  and  Samuel  Mason,  sons  of  Major 
John  Mason,  the  famous  Indian  fighter,  whose  expedition 
against  the  Pequots  was  the  most  noted  of  all  the  events 
in  the  history  of  early  eastern  Connecticut,  and  who  after- 
wards settled  Norwich;  Rev.  James  Fitch,  Major  James 
Fitch  his  son,  John  Birchard,  Eieut.  Thomas  Tracy, 
Thomas  Adgate,  Simon  Huntington,  lyieut.  Thomas 
Lefhngwell,    John    Olmsted,   physician,    William    Hyde, 


22 

William  Backus,  Hugh  Calkins,  Captain  George  Deni- 
son  and  Daniel  Wetherwell.  None  of  these  settled  in  this 
town.  They  were  mainly  elderly  men,  who  had  been 
pioneers  in  the  settlement  of  Norwich,  and  left  for  their 
sons  and  immediate  descendants  the  work  of  building  up 
this  plantation. 

An  agreement  to  settle  was  made  February  17,  1682, 
and  each  man  signed,  promising  to  content  himself  with 
the  place  where  God's  providence  should  determine  b}- 
lot,  to  fix  his  particular  tract  of  land, — a  trustful  faith  in 
such  matters  quite  in  distinction  from  modern  estate 
transactions.  It  was  also  agreed  that  only  such  whole- 
some inhabitants  as  the  company  shall  see  fit  to  admit 
shall  purchase,  so  that  the  town  in  its  beginning  was 
select  and  aristocratic  to  a  degree,  and  not  a  little  of  that 
flavor  is  said  to  exist  even  now. 

John  Mason  had  died  and  his  brother  Samuel  had  dis- 
posed of  his  interest,  and  John  Post  had  purchased  the 
right  of  John  Olmsted,  so  that  only  fourteen  proprietors , 
signed  this  agreement,  thirteen  only  of  whom  were 
grantees  under  the  will  of  Attawanhood.  These  gentle- 
men, however,  were  all  well-known  pioneers  in  Eastern 
Connecticut  filled  with  the  spirit  of  breaking  open  the  new 
country,  with  perhaps  a  little  vein  of  speculation  running 
through  that.  At  all  events  when  the  settlement  was  act- 
ually made,  those  enterprising  real  estate  dealers,  the 
Masons  and  Fitches,  had  more  than  half  the  60,000  acres 
of  the  tract  in  their  possession,  and  there  is  a  record  to 
show  that  they  sold  even  to  the  sons  of  those  of  whom 
they  had  bought.  To  offset  this,  however,  they  had  the 
charge  of  Abimelech  Sachem,  for  one  third  of  his  keep, 
his  father's  generosity  in  land  to  the  whites  having 
made  him  a  pauper,  a  veritable  "Lo,  the  poor  Indian." 

The  survey  of  the  lots  was  made  by  Lieutenant  Thomas 
I^efiingwell,  Sergeant  Richard  Bushnell  and  Simon  Hunt- 
ington and  the  tradition  is  that  they  made  their  first 
night's  camp  east  of  the  Natchaug  river  just  below  the 
Horse  Shoe  Bend,  about  opposite  what   is  now  the  Willi- 


23 

mantic  Fair  grounds.  Whether  this  be  true  or  not,  tradi- 
tion picked  out  a  most  lovely  and  beautiful  clearing  for 
these  pioneers  to  sleep  in  beneath  the  May  sky  of  16S5. 

The  lots  were  laid  out  in  three  sections,  one  at  Hither 
Place,  one  at  Willimantuck  and  one  at  the  Pondes,  or 
what  is  now  Mansfield  Center.  The  first  occupant  of  the 
lands  was  John  Gates,  an  individual  about  whom  there 
has  been  some  mystery,  more  than  has  ever  been  satis- 
factorily explained.  He  came  in  1689  and  with  his  negro, 
Joe  Ginne,  erected  a  rude  shelter  which  was  afterwards 
converted  into  a  dwelling  with  the  assistance  of  Jonathan 
Ginnings,  who  was  the  first  white  man  with  a  family  in 
the  towm  and  to  whom  the  first  white  child  was  born. 
Whatever  Gates  might  have  been  before  he  came  to 
Windham,  he  was  a  respectable  citizen  here,  took  some 
part,  though  never  officially,  in  town  affairs  and  was  well 
thought  of.  His  will  gave  some  portion  of  his  estate  to 
the  church  and  the  town  and  his  memory  might  well 
remain  undisturbed  by  any  futile  attempts  to  discover 
w^hether  he  was  a  regicide,  as  some  suggest,  or  merely  an 
adventurer,  who  for  personal  reasons  did  not  care  to  have 
his  affairs  in  England  known.  After  Gates,  the  settlers 
came  in  rapidly  and  in  1691  the  inhabitants  petitioned  the 
General  Gourt  for  a  town  grant,  Joshua  Ripley,  John 
Gates,  Jonathan  Grane,  Joseph  Huntington,  William 
Backus,  Jeremiah  Ripley,  Jonathan  Ginnings,  Richard 
Hendee,  John  Backus  and  John  Larabee  being  signers  to 
the  petition.  The  names  have  been  familiar  to  the  in- 
habitants of  the  town  to  this  day.  These  petitioners 
were  all  residents  of  the  G enter. 

Ponde  Towne  or  Mansfield  was  settled  almost  contem- 
poraneously with  the  Genter,  and  for  a  few  years  the  two 
sections  lived  together  comfortably  and  with  religious 
peace,  but  trouble  over  the  church-going  and  ministerial 
privileges  arose  and  in  1701  Mansfield  went  her  own  way 
as  a  separate  town.  The  details  of  the  steps  that  resulted 
in  this  division  have  been  recently  published  and  there  is 
no  time  to  go  over  them  here.     The  incorporation  of  the 


24 

town  of  Windham  was  May  12,  1692,  and  the  first  town 
meeting  was  held  here  June  11  of  the  same  year,  two  hun- 
dred years  from  Saturday  of  this  week. 

At  that  meeting  provision  was  made  for  the  support  of 
the  gospel,  and  Mr.  Samuel  Whiting,  son  of  Rev.  John 
Whiting,  pastor  of  the  First  church  in  Hartford,  was  chos- 
en pastor  and  served  the  people  in  the  capacity  of  spiritual 
and  general  advisor  until  his  death  in  1725,  thirty -three 
years  after.  He  was  a  man  of  uncommon  fervor  in  the 
pulpit,  who  mingled  greatly  with  the  people  in  their  every- 
day transactions  and  who  had  large  interests  in  real  estate, 
his  name  appearing  with  great  frequencj^  in  the  early  trans- 
fers of  property  in  the  town.  His  wnfe  was  Elizabeth 
Adams,  whose  mother  Alice  Bradford,  grandaughter  of 
Governor  Bradford  of  the  Mayflower,  and  her  children, 
transmitted  a  goodly  strain  of  Mayflower  blood  to  man}- 
descendants  of  Windham  families.  Her  oldest  daughter 
married  Joseph  Fitch  and  Colonel  Eleazer  Fitch  was  their 
son,  the  handsomest  man  in  the  American  army,  who  served 
at  the  head  of  the  Fourth  Connecticut  troops  in  the  French 
and  Indian  war  and  whose  sense  of  honor,  having  been 
once  a  soldier  of  the  king,  did  not  allow  him  to  take  a  prom- 
inent part  in  the  revolution.  Elizabeth  Whiting  married 
William  Gager.  William  Whiting,  a  son,  was  Lieutenant 
Colonel  at  the  siege  of  Louisburg,  and  at  Eake  George  un- 
der Sir  William  Johnson.  John  Whiting  was  a  colonel  in  the 
French  and  Indian  war,  and  Mary,  the  ninth  child,  married 
Rev.  Thomas  Clap  who  succeeded  her  father  in  the  Wind- 
ham pulpit  and  was  afterwards  president  of  Yale  college. 
Samuel,  the  twelfth  child,  was  also  a  colonel  in  the  French 
and  Indian  war  and  the  thirteenth  child,  a  daughter,  mar- 
ried into  the  Salstonstall  family,  and  a  grandaughter  was 
the  wife  of  General  Wooster  of  New  Haven,  a  revolutionary 
soldier  whose  descendants  were  prominent  in  that  town  for 
years.  The  family  of  Samuel  Whiting  w^as  one  of  the  re- 
ligious militant  families  of  the  early  town.  Its  members 
could  pray  or  fight  as  occasion  demanded  and  whatever 
they  did  they  did  well.     No  family  of  eastern  Connecticut 


25 

put  better  blood  into  its  descendants  nor  allowed  itself  to 
commingle  with  any  better  blood.  It  was  very  blue,  but  it 
was  tinged  with  the  red  blood  of  courage  which  sent  the 
Mayflower  across  the  sea. 

Rev.  Thomas  Clap  was  23  years  of  age  when  he  took 
charge  of  the  church  here,  but  he  impressed  himself  upon 
the  community  by  his  scholarly  accomplishments,  his  force 
of  character  and  his  indomitable  will.  He  ruled  with  a  rod 
of  iron  and  his  people  endured  it,  although  it  was  remarked 
that  when  in  1739  he  accepted  the  presidency  of  Yale  col- 
lege they  acted  like  bo3^s  let  out  of  school.  The  educational 
influence  of  Mr.  Clap,  however,  is  not  to  be  underrated. 
He  inspired  a  love  for  study  in  young  men,  as  the  list 
of  graduates  of  Yale  college  from  Windham  bear  evident 
witness.  Benjamin  and  William  Throop,  both  preachers, 
Nathaniel,  Enoch,  Joseph,  and  Jabez  Huntington,  Joshua, 
Vine  and  John  Klderkin,  Daniel  Welsh,  the  noted  preach- 
er of  Mansfield,  Ebenezer  Dyer,  Perez,  John,  James  and 
Elijah  Fitch,  Asa  Spaulding,  Samuel  Cary,  Ephraim 
Starkweather,  Ebenezer  Devotion,  son  of  the  Scotland 
preacher,  John  EHery,  Zephaniah  Leonard,  Dyer  Throop, 
Hezekiah  Bissell,  Colonel  Ebenezer  Gray,  Hezekiah  Rip- 
ley, Bela  Elderkin,  all  graduated  from  Yale  before  the  rev- 
olution and  all  were  more  or  less  connected  with  the  activ- 
ities of  the  town. 

Before  leaving  the  religious  movement  of  this  early 
part  of  the  history  of  the  town,  a  word  for  Rev. 
Stephen  White,  whose  term  in  the  pastorate  was  over 
fifty  years,  and  whose  influence  was  of  great  benefit  to  the 
town.  He  was  not  of  so  aggressive  a  temperament  as  either 
of  his  predecessors,  but  he  was  a  preacher  of  conscientious 
painstaking  and  a  man  of  mild  and  sweet  temper.  The 
closing  years  of  his  term  were  beclouded  with  ill  health 
and  by  a  great  deal  of  uneasiness  in  the  parish,  the  influx 
of  worldliness  which  had  come  in  with  the  largely-increased 
population  giving  him  a  great  deal  of  anxiety.  His  plaint 
in  his  half-century  sermon  has  a  very  modern  sound,  when 
he  speaks  of  profane  swearing,  disregard  of  the   Sabbath. 


26 

unrighteousness  and  intemperance,  which  had  no  place 
when  his  pastorate  began.  He  passed  away  in  a  discour- 
aged state  of  mind,  but  the  town  itself  was  marvellously 
prosperous  at  the  time. 

Another  remarkable  man  in  the  religious  life  of  the  town 
was  Rev.  Ebenezer  Devotion,  who  was  the  first  pastor  of 
the  church  in  Scotland  parish.  He  was  a  man  of  great 
force  and  unexampled  dignity,  and  while  he  took  great  de- 
light in  being  a  farmer  and  working  with  his  own  hands 
and  his  own  strength,  w^hich  was  marvelous,  week  days, 
and  was  on  common  terms  with  his  people,  on  Sundays  it 
is  said  of  him  that  he  entered  the  church  between  two  files 
of  the  worshippers  who  took  off  their  hats  that  he  might  re- 
ceive the  respect  due  him.  His  service  was  from  1735  to 
1 77 1  and  his  work  was  for  the  great  good  of  that  section  of 
the  town.  He  served  also  in  the  general  assembly  and  w^as 
an  active  force  in  all  intellectual  effort.  His  epitaph  is  a 
lofty  specimen  of  that  older  and  better  tribute  of  dignified 
English  which  we  seldom  see  in  latter-day  cemeteries. 

The  religious  movement  of  the  century  was  disturbed 
by  the  Separatist  agitation,  which  is  of  itself  worthy  of 
special  studv,  but  for  which  there  is  now  no  time.  And 
Mr.  Clap  says  of  an  attempt  of  Israel  Fulsome  and  his 
wife  that  the}^  called  into  their  house  an  Episcopal  teacher 
and  held  disorganizing  meetings,  which  like  the  pleasures 
of  sin,  were  only  for  a  season. 

These  four  men  had  so  much  to  do  with  the  early  relig- 
ious and  social  life  of  the  town  that  it  has  seemed  impossible 
to  pass  by  without  this  allusion.  Seldom,  if  ever,  even  in 
Connecticut,  have  four  such  noble  men  been  given  to  a 
town  in  its  first  century,  have  served  it  so  long  and  so 
faithfully.  To  them  much  of  the  influence  the  town  had 
in  public  affairs  can  be  directly  traced. 

The  geographical  lines  of  the  original  tract  and  of  the 
subdivisions  made  during  the  first  century  are  worth  a 
passing  notice.  Our  neighbor  to  the  south,  Lebanon,  held 
a  tract  ver}^  near  to  the  rivers  which  were  the  southern 
boundary  of  Windham,  but  not  quite.  There  was  a  strip  of 


27 

no-man's  land  which  was  in  dispute  between  the  towns,  and 
settlers  having  purchased  it,  it  was  decided  by  the  (General 
Court  that  they  could  be  better  accommodated  if  the  tract 
was  given  to  Windham  to  govern  rather  than  to  Lebanon. 
In  this  Lebanon  readily  acquiesced  as  she  foresaw  the 
bridging  of  the  rivers.  Windham,  with  a  speculative 
eye  thought  of  the  fisheries  and  took  the  land  for  the 
shad,  taking  both  the  shad  and  the  bridge  while  Lebanon 
had    neither.     She  made  a  miss  that  time. 

Mansfield  was  set  off  in  1701  and  Hampton  or  Canada 
parish  went  its  own  w^ay  in  1786  after  having  for  many 
years  been  a  contributory  parish  of  great  value  having 
maintained  a  church  of  its  owm;  for  since  1723  the  parish 
was  called  Canada  or  "Kennedy"  parish  from  David  Can- 
ada or  Kennedy  its  first  settler.  Isaac  Magoon,  the  first 
settler  in  Scotland,  gave  the  name  to  that  parish  as  he  was 
a  Scotchman. 

While  the  religious  movement  of  the  centur}-  was 
fraught  with  the  greatest  benefit  to  the  educational  and 
social  life  of  the  town,  the  secular  and  commercial  side 
of  the  town  was  not  neglected.  Religious  liberty  was 
abundant,  from  the  point  of  view  of  the  colonists,  and 
they  soon  branched  out  into  those  indUvStries  which  became 
a  part  of  the  new^  settlement.  The  timber  was  cleared  and 
saw  mills  were  erected  on  Merrick's  brook,  the  Shetucket 
and  Willimantic  rivers,  and  grist  mills  for  the  grinding  of 
the  grain  raised  on  the  plantation.  The  raising  of  cattle 
and  sheep,  carding  and  spinning  wool  and  weaving  it  into 
the  cloths  necessary  for  the  comfort  of  the  settlers,  all  were 
carried  forward  with  energy  and  the  push  consequent  upon 
the  condition  of  a  rapidly  growing  community.  While  the 
earliest  settlers  came  here  from  Norwich,  and  were  descen- 
dants, many  of  them  of  the  original  proprietors,  the  bulk 
of  the  settlers  coming  in  during  the  first  half  of  the  century 
w^ere  from  the  colonial  towns  on  Massachusetts  Bay.  Salem, 
Rehoboth,  Cambridge,  Charlestown,  Newton  and  other 
places  contributed  to  the  energy  of  the  new  population 
and  the  families   were    of    a  sterling  and  vigorous  type. 


28 

The  Abbes,  Larabees,  Cranes,  Backuses,  Durkees,  Hunt- 
ingtons,  Flints,  Snells,  Jenningses,  Aliens,  Binghams, 
Browns,  Bibbinses,  Badgers,  Babcocks,  Basses,  Billingses, 
of  whom  the  Hampton  minister  was  a  noble  man  and  true, 
Carys,  Elderkins,  Fitches,  Dyers,  Clevelands,  Clarks, 
Dingleys,  Dimmocks,  Denisons,  Frinks,  Follets,  Grays, 
Hebards,  Hunts,  Kennedys,  Kingsburys,  Lincolns,  Lath- 
rops,  Mannings,  Martins,  Murdocks,  Millards,  Moultons, 
Ormsb3'S,  Palmers,  Perkinses,  Reeds,  Riple3'S,  Robbinses, 
Robinsons,  Rudds,  Skiffs,  Spaffords,  Smiths,  Spencers, 
Saw^yers,  Simonses,  Stamfords,  South  worths,  Tracys, 
Taintors,  Webbs,  Waleses,  Waldens,  Warners,  Wood- 
wards, Welches,  Whites,  Whitings,  Waldos,  were  all 
typical  families,  man}-  of  them  having  descendants  in  the 
town  to-day,  and  man}-  of  them  having  furnished  men  of 
great  distinction  and  of  service  to  the  state  and  to  the 
countr3\  In  1700  the  first  meeting-house  was  built  on  the 
home  lot  of  William  Backus  which  had  been  purchased 
for  the  purpose  by  Mr.  Whiting  and  Ensign  Jonathan 
Crane.  This  fixed  the  location  of  Windham  Green  where 
we  are  toda}^  and  during  the  century  which  followed  it 
became  historic  ground.  Here  were  all  the  public 
gatherings,  the  training  days,  here  the  courts  were  held 
after  their  establishment,  and  here  the  great  men  of  the 
time  stopped  on  their  way  from  Hartford  to  Providence  or 
Norwich.  Man\'  of  the  revolutionary  heroes  were  here, 
and  it  is  not  at  all  unlikely  that  Washington  often  visited 
here  when  on  his  calls  to  Brother  Jonathan  Trumbull  in 
Lebanon.  There  are  man}-  traditions  as  to  this  fact  but 
no  record  that  I  am  aware  of. 

Connecticut  was  unusuall}^  prosperous  and  the  happiest 
of  all  the  colonies  in  the  earl 3^  part  of  the  centur3' .  There 
was  freedom  from  Indian  troubles,  the  colon3^  was  inde- 
pendent, and  the  conditions  were  right  for  peace  and  the 
pursuit  of  the  industries  which  opened  for  the  new  settle- 
ments. The  utility  of  the  Sliding  Fall  at  Willimantic 
was  earl3^  seen  and  an  iron  works  established  there,  the 
ore  being  dug  in  Mansfield.     This   industr3^   was   prose- 


2D 

cuted  with  varying  degrees  of  ill  luck  until,  after  its  aban- 
donment, it  was  swept  away  by  a  flood.  But  little  atten- 
tion was  paid  to  that  particular  section  of  the  town  after 
this,  until  in  the  'seventies,  but  the  hay  from  the  meadows 
was  regularly  housed  by  the  farmers  on  the  Green  to  help 
winter  their  stock,  of  which  they  had  become  large  rais- 
ers. Benjamin  Millard,  who  lived  near  the  crotch  of  the 
rivers  at  the  Horse  Shoe  bend,  was  allowed  to  set  up  a  tan- 
nery in  1700,  and  Jonathan  Crane  was  licensed  by  the 
General  Court  at  Hartford  to  keep  a  victualling  house  for 
the  entertainment  of  strangers  and  travellers  and  the  re- 
tailing of  strong  drink.  He  was  the  first  landlord  of  the 
first  hotel  and  his  license  came,  as  will  be  seen,  from 
headquarters.  It  was  before  the  days  of  county  commis- 
sioners. There  was  a  rigid  line  of  conduct  in  regard  to 
common  rights.  The  town  granted  and  allowed  what 
rights  should  be  used  on  the  rivers,  and  when  Jonathan 
Bingham  fenced  in  a  spring  for  his  own  private  use  he 
^vas  prosecuted  and  fined.  Schools  at  the  beginning  were 
not  much  thought  of,  but  Thomas  Snell  was  allowed  to 
keep  one  in  his  house,  w^hich  wsls  the  first  of  the  school 
privileges  in  towai.  In  17 13  two  schoolhouses  were  or- 
dered ;  one  to  be  set  on  the  Green  and  one  in  the  east  of 
the  town,  Scotland.  Highways  received  unusual  atten- 
tion and  the  town  frequently  called  upon  this  or  that 
delinquent  to  assist  in  keeping  his  share  of  the  high- 
way in  good  repair.  Arrangements  were  also  made  with 
towns  near  by  for  the-  maintenance  of  sections  of  road 
which  had  become  great  public  thoroughfares.  In  17 13 
the  meeting  house,  never  a  good  one,  was  enlarged  and  a 
committee  was  appointed  to  seat  the  attendants  upon  wor- 
ship according,  first,  to  the  place  or  station  they  are  in, 
second,  to  the  age  they  bear,  and  third,  to  the  estate  they 
enjoy.  What  became  of  those  who  had  neither  station 
nor  estate  is  not  quite  clear. 

The  turning  point  in  the  great  prosperity  and  success 
of  Windham,  was  in  the  erection  of  Windham  county  and 
its  selection    as  the     shire   town.      This  gave   unwonted 


30 

stimulus  to  all  kinds  of  activity  and  at  once 
made  it  the  seat  of  public  affairs,  created  a  new 
impetus  in  its  life  and  really  was  the  making  of  the 
town.  The  necessit}"  for  concerted  action  on  the 
part  of  the  towns  was  made  manifest  by  the  rival  claim- 
ants to  their  county  government.  Woodstock  was  claimed 
by  Suffolk  count}^  Massachusetts,  Windham-  and  Ash- 
ford  by  Windham  and  Hartford,  and  New  London  count}^ 
claimed  the  rest.  The  inconvenience  was  great,  and 
after  an  agitation  lasting  nearly  eight  3'ears  the  count}" 
was  organized  and  Windham  made  the  county  seat.  It 
was  the  largest  of  the  towns  and  really  the  most  accessi- 
ble, as  the  count}"  contained  towns  to  the  west  and  south, 
Coventry  and  lycbanon.  Windham  was  not,  however,  at 
the  time,  the  wealthiest,  Lebanon's  ratable  property  be- 
ing some  ^3,000  greater.  The  property  in  Windham  was 
largely  in  the  hands  of  the  few,  the  early  comers  having 
the  best  of  the  land,  while  the  mass  of  the  people  were  in 
hard  straits.  Mone}"  was  scarce  and  the  poorer  people 
could  barel}^  subsist  on  what  they  could  raise.  There 
were  no  industries  other  than  those  of  farming.  The  so- 
cial condition  at  this  time  is  known  but  little  of,  but  the 
religious  state  of  the  town  was  at  its  highest.  There  had 
been  a  great  revival  under  the  ministrations  of  Mr.  Whit- 
ing and  the  settlement  had  been  thoroughly  aroused. 
There  were  a  great  many  poor  but  pious  parents,  and  the 
families  were  large,  frequently  going  into  the  'teens  in 
numbers.  The  habitations  weje  by  no  means  grand,  but 
they  were  reasonably  comfortable  for  first  dwellings.  The 
first  court  held  was  that  of  common  pleas,  June  26,  1726, 
Timothy  Pierce  of  Plainfield,  presiding,  having  been 
raised  from  judge  of  probate  to  judge  of  the  county  court. 
Joshua  Ripley  of  Windham,  Thomas  Huntington  of  Mans- 
field, Joseph  Adams  of  Canterbury,  and  Ebenezer  West 
of  Lebanon,  were  justices  of  the  quorum;  Richard  Abbe 
of  this  town  was  treasurer  of  the  count}-  and  Eleazer 
Cary,  Jonathan  Crane,  Joshua  Ripley,  jr.,  Joseph  Hunt- 
ington, Thomas  Root  and  Nathaniel  Rust  were   jurymen. 


31 

Forty-six  cases  were  tried  and  from  that  time  liti^^ation 
was  abundant.  Jabez  Huntington  of  Windham  was  the 
first  sheriff.  Mr.  Abbe's  back  room  in  his  dwelling 
was  ordered  to  be  a  common  jail  until  a  new^  one  should 
be  built,  which  was  very  soon,  however,  and  Mr.  Ablje's 
back  room  was  relegated  to  its  original  uses.  In  1729 
the  county  court  house  was  planned  and  built  in  the  suc- 
ceeding year,  the  land  being  deeded  by  Thomas  Snell, 
who  at  the  time  was  a  prosperous  merchant.  Soon  after 
this  Richard  Abbe  opened  his  mansion,  by  far  the  finest 
in  town,  as  a  place  of  public  entertainment  and  for  years 
it  was  the  central  point  in  the  town.  Business  and  trade 
centered,  tanning  was  carried  on  by  Nehemiah  Ripley 
and  Joseph  Jennings.  This  state  of  prosperity  continued 
until  nearly  the  middle  of  the  century,  when  there  was  a 
temporarj^  check.  Many  of  the  prominent  settlers  and 
leading  men  died,  there  appeared  no  one  to  take  their 
places,  and  there  was  an  interim  of  dullness  until  after  the 
close  of  the  French  war.  Just  previous  to  this,  in  1740 
and  1746,  two  young  men,  graduates  of  Yale  College,  were 
admitted  to  the  bar  and  settled  in  Windham,  their  native 
town,  and  their  public  services  in  the  great  branches  of 
public  life,  judicial  and  military,  added  lustre  to  the  town. 
They  were,  by  their  long  and  distinguished  ser\nces,  until 
they  died  in  the  town,  more  than  fifty  years  after,  the  most 
illustrious  of  the  citizens  :  Colonel  Eliphalet  Dyer  and 
Colonel  Jedediah  Elderkin.  In  1745  the  first  execution  in 
the  county  occurred  in  this  town,  that  of  Betty  Shaw  for 
the  crime  of  infanticide.  Roger  Wolcott  was  chief  judge, 
and  the  trial  attracted  great  attention.  The  hanging  was 
on  Gallows  Hill,  and  there  was  a  great  concourse  on  that 
coldest  of  cold  days,  December  18,  1745.  Tradition  has  it 
that  the  hands  and  feet  of  the  officers  of  the  law  were 
frozen,  and  that  the  victim's  fingers  rattled  like  icicles 
against  the  coffin  upon  which  she  sat  on  her  way  from 
the  jail  to  the  gallows.  Alas,  for  poor,  simple  minded, 
much-sinned-against  Betty  Shaw.  Those  were  days  of 
wrath  and  not  of  sympathy.     Her  story  is  worthy   the  pen 


32 

of  a  Hawthorne,  but  it  rests  a  charge  against  the  unfor- 
giving spirit  and  severe  judgments  of  our  ancestors. 

And  now  for  the  event  which  has  made  Windham  known 
more  than  almost  any  other  in  its  history,  and  which  has 
afforded  amusement  and  speculation  ever  since  it  is  al- 
leged to  have  happened,  that  great  Batrachian  Battle  that 
occured  on  a  murky  night  in  1754,  about  a  mile  east,  at 
the  frog  pond.  This  has  been  celebrated  in  song  and  told 
of  in  story  and  just  what  the  facts  are  no  one  exactly  knows. 
There  was  undoubtedly  some  unusual  disturbance  among 
the  frogs,  and  there  was  curiosity,  if  not  alarm,  on  the  part 
of  the  inhabitants.  Peters,  who  for  good  reasons  was  not 
fond  of  Connecticut,  says  the  frogs  went  in  search  of  water 
to  the  Shetucket  river,  and  that  they  filled  a  road  forty 
rods  wdde,  five  miles  long.  Surely  such  an  enfilading  of 
frogs  was  ne'er  writ  about  before,  and  if  true  it  may  be 
fair  to  presume  that  the  frogs  had  heard  that  some  of  the 
settlers  in  Scotland  were  French  Huguenots  and  ran  aw^ay 
from  their  traditional  enemies,  the  French.  It  is  likel}" 
however  that,  the  pond  having  been  drawn  off,  the  frogs 
suffered  for  water  and  made  a  large  amount  of  noise  about 
it  before  they  died.  There  might  have  been  a  pitched 
battle  and  if  so  we  shall  have  to  accredit  the  frogs  wdth  as- 
similating the  militant  spirit  of  the  settlers,  w^ho  were  in 
arms  for  the  advance  of  the  French  and  Indians,  and  fought 
it  out  in  one  night  instead  of  taking  all  summer. 

At  all  events  the  occurence  has  found  its  way  into  tra- 
ditional literature,  and  Windham's  descendants  the  world 
over  are  likeh^  to  be  confronted  with  a  bullfrog  at  almost 
any  unexpected  turn. 

At  the  close  of  the  French  and  Indian  war  there  was  a 
renewed  wave  of  prosperity  sweeping  over  the  town.  James 
Flint,  Kbenezer  Backus  and  Ebenezer  Devotion,  Jr.  estab- 
lished an  extensive  trade,  bu3dng  up  the  products  of  the 
town  and  exchanging  them  for  West  India  goods.  Wool 
growing,  cattle  raising,  tobacco  raising  to  some  extent,  and 
hemp  culture  were  engaged  in,  and  wheat  was  grown  for 
exportation.     The  trade  with  West   India   stimulated  all 


33 

enterprises  and  saltpeter,  leather,  and  even  silk  niannfac- 
ture  was  begun,  Jedediah  Elderkin  planting  a  nuill)Lrry 
orchard  in  South  Windham  and  making  a  coarse  silk 
which  was  used  for  handkerchiefs.  In  1760  there  were 
twelve  places  in  the  town  where  liquor  was  licensed  to  be 
sold,  and  Mercy  Fitch  of  the  Green  kept  one  of  them.  In 
such  a  state  of  prosperity  and  accompanying  cheer  the  life 
of  the  town  was  lively  indeed,  and  the  place  was  noted 
for  the  lavishness  of  its  hospitality  and  for  general  jollity. 
Parson  White's  efforts  in  the  pulpit  to  check  this  state  of 
levity  and  w^orldiness  were  of  little  avail.  Old  Windham 
was  hardened  to  a  season  of  enjoyment.  In  1760  the  Sus- 
quehanna company,  which  had  organized  just  before  the 
outbreak  of  the  French  and  Indian  war  for  the  purpose  of 
taking  up  the  land  in  the  beautiful  Wyoming  valley,  was 
reinvigorated,  and  Colonel  Eliphalet  Dyer  went  to  England 
to  get  the  approval  of  the  crown  of  a  purchase  made  of  the 
Six  Nations,  the  land  in  question  being  included  in  the 
charter  of  the  state  according  to  Connecticut  belief.  His 
mission  was  unsuccessful,  but  after  a  calling  together  of 
the  company'  at  Windham  it  was  agreed  to  enter  in  and  oc- 
cup3',  the  King's  command  to  the  contrary.  The  state 
ofovernment  had  no  desire  to  enter  into  anv  relations  with 
the  scheme  as  Pennsylvania  also  claimed  the  land.  In  '69 
however  some  forty  pioneers  went  to  the  valley  and  began 
the  struggle  for  its  possession.  Of  the  forty,  Captain  John 
Durkee,  Thomas  Dyer,  Vine  Elderkin,  Nathaniel  Wales 
and  Nathan  Denison,  were  of  Windham.  No  amicable 
agreement  could  be  made  with  Pennsylvania  although  Col- 
onel D3^er  and  Major  Elderkin  made  an  attempt  at  one. 
The  Connecticut  men,  however,  managed  to  keep  their 
grip,  and  after  reverses  in  which  Fort  Durkee  was  captured 
and  lost  and  captured  again,  the  settlement  was  made  and 
the  Windhamites  held  the  ground,  many  emigrants  going 
from  their  rocky  surroundings  to  that  most  beautiful  of  the 
middle  state  valleys.  All  was  prosperity  there  for  a  time 
until  during  the  revolution  in  1778  that  base  act  of  barbar- 
ity   designed  by    the   British,    aided  by  the  Indians,   the 


34 

Wyoming  massacre,  occurred.  The  story  ot  that  foul  blot 
on  the  conduct  of  the  war  with  the  colonies  would  be  suf- 
ficient for  a  volume  by  itself.  Women  and  children  were 
murdered  in  their  homes  and  the  men  in  the  fields,  and 
when  it  was  over  the  remnant  made  their  way  homeward 
to  Connecticut,  a  party  of  a  few  hundred  women  and  child- 
ren with  only  one  man  to  lead.  The  sufferings  of  that 
journey  were  participated  in  by  the  ancestors  of  some  who 
are  in  this  audience,  without  doubt.  The  Wyoming  tract 
was  afterwards  added  to  Pennsylvania  and  Connecticut  re- 
ceived the  Ohio  reserv^ation  from  which  the  state  school 
fund  was  largely  made  up.  Thus  Windham's  enterprise 
fixed  itself  for  good  upon  one  of  the  institutions  of  which 
the  state  has  long  been  proud.  After  the  Revolution,  there 
was  again  a  tide  of  prosperity  and  at  the  close  of  it  the  first 
newspaper,  "The  Phoenix,"  or  Windham  "Herald,"  was 
founded,  leaving  a  record  behind  of  the  transactions  and 
life  of  the  town. 

The  military  spirit  which  pen^aded  the  town  has  been 
purposeh'  ignored  in  consideration,  thus  far,  that  it  might 
make  a  fitting  close  to  this  incomplete  review.  Early  in 
the  centur}^  when  there  was  danger  of  an  Indian  out- 
break, a  training  company  was  organized.  John  Fitch  was 
elected  captain  and  Jonathan  Crane  lieutenant.  From 
that  time  on  there  were  regular  training  da3's  and  the 
usual  development  of  colonels,  majors,  captains,  etc.  But 
show  military  display-  was  not  all  that  was  to  be  had  of  old 
Windham.  When  the  French  and  Indian  war  broke  out 
a  number  of  Windham  men  joined  the  regiment  raised  in 
eastern  Connecticut  to  assist  in  the  reduction  of  Crown 
Point  under  the  command  of  Sir  William  Johnson.  Eli- 
phalet  Dyer  was  lieutenant  colonel.  Captain  Eleazer  Fitch 
commanded  one  of  its  companies,  raised  almost  entirely 
from  Windham.  Colonel  Dyer  was  afterwards  in  com- 
mand in  the  regiment  with  full  rank.  The  services  of 
Windham's  soldiers  in  that  war  were  notable,  and  man}^ 
of  them  suffered  the  hardship  of  capture  and  torture  by 
the  Indians.     Three  of  the  sons  of  Minister  Samuel  Whi- 


35 

ting,  Nathan,  Samuel  and  William,  were  colonels  in  that 
war,  and  Colonel  Nathan  Whiting  and  Colonel  Eleazer 
Fitch  were  present  at  the  surrender  of  Montreal  to  Lord 
Amherst. 

At  the  first  dawning  of  the  revolution,  the  town  of 
Windham  enlisted  in  the  cause  of  the  country  and  thence- 
forward continued  to  ser^x  it  with  energy  and  patri- 
otic zeal.  She  was  among  the  first  to  enter  and  the  last 
to  retire  from  the  conflict.  The  blood  of  her  sons  was 
poured  out  on  every  battlefield  of  that  great  struggle  from 
Bunker  Hill  to  Yorktown.  The  passage  of  the  stamp  act 
in  1765  aroused  an  active  resistance  and  the  people  of 
Windham  were  of  those  who  determined  that  no  stamps 
should  be  sold  in  the  state  ;  and  some  two  hundred  men 
from  this  and  New^  London  count}^  mounted  on  horse 
back,  proceeded  to  Hartford  and  Wethersfield,  and  com- 
pelled Jared  Ingersoll,  the  stamp  collector,  to  resign. 
Windham  had  a  large  contingent  in  that  company  and  on 
its  return  from  Hartford  it  halted  for  a  night  on  Windham 
Green  and  enjo3^ed  an  evening  of  great  hilarity,  burning 
Ingersoll  in  efhgy  among  other  things.  That  was  un- 
doubtedly one  of  the  liveliest  nights  ever  seen  on  this  spot 
of  ground. 

In  1768  a  non-consumption  ordinance  was  passed,  and 
liberty  meetings  where  the  greatest  enthusiasm  was  mani- 
fested were  frequent.  In  June,  1774,  a  remarkable  town 
meeting  w^as  held  and  a  long  and  patriotic  address  was 
adopted.     The  appeal  w^as  this: 

"Let  us,  dear  fellow  Americans,  for  a  few  A-ears  at  least, 
abandon  the  narrow,  contracted  principle  of  self  love 
w^hich  is  a  source  of  ever}-  vice;  let  our  hearts  expand, 
and  dilate  with  the  noble  and  generous  sentiments  of 
benevolence,  though  attended  by  the  severer  virtue  of  self 
denial.  The  blessings  of  heaven  attending,  America  is 
saved.  Children  3^et  unborn  will  rise  and  call  3'ou  blessed. 
The  present  generation  will  be  extolled  and  celebrated 
to  the  latest  period  of  American  glor}-,  as  the  happ}^  in- 
struments under  God  of  delivering  millions  from  thraldom 
and  slaver}^  and  securing  permanent  freedom  and. liberty 
to  America." 


36 

And  those  old  Windham  men  meant  what  they  said. 
When  the  news  of  Lexington  spread  through  the  New 
England  towns,  Windham  sent  four  companies  of  150  men 
to  Bunker  Hill  in  Colonel  Klderkin's  regiment,  and  more 
followed.  Some  of  these  first  recruits  sleep  at  the  foot  of 
Bunker  Hill  monument  in  Charlestown,  and,  among  the 
graves  in  Windham  cemetery,  there  is  one  tombstone 
which  reads,  "The  grave  of  Joel  Webb,  a  soldier  of  the 
revolution  who  fought  at  Bunker  Hill."  He  was  26 
years  of  age  when  he  left  this  Green  for  the  scene  of 
battle. 

There  are  good  reasons  for  believing  that  during  the 
war  more  than  1,000  soldiers  went  from  this  town,  and  at 
one  time  there  were  300  in  the  field.  On  one  occasion 
Washington  complimented  a  contingent  from  Windham  as 
thoroughly  reliable,  and  gave  them  a  special  commis- 
sion of  a  hazardous  nature.  Time  fails  to  give  account  of 
the  officers  and  men  and  their  heroic  deeds.  They  fought 
and  star\^ed  and  took  the  hazard  of  fortune  which  came 
to  those  brave  continental  soldiers,  and  the  world  has  seen 
no  better  stuff  behind  muskets. 

Incidental  to  the  war,  Blderkin  and  Wales  manufac- 
tured a  good  share  of  the  powder  used  by  the  continental 
troops,  at  the  mills  in  Willimantic,  while  Hezekiah  Hunt- 
ington, who  had  a  major's  commission  in  the  army,  re- 
mained at  home,  repairing  and  manufacturing  arms  at  the 
old  iron  w^orks  in  the  same  localit3^  The  United  States 
government  early  had  this  location  in  view  as  a  proper  site 
for  the  United  States  armory  which  was  afterwards  built 
in  Springfield,  Massachusetts;  but  the  latter  state  had  a 
stronger  "pull"  than  Connecticut,  or  Willimantic  would 
have  made  muskets  and  rifles  to-day,  instead  of  thread 
and  cotton  cloth,  and  silk.  Kliphalet  Dyer,  Nathaniel 
Wales  jr.,  and  Joshua  Klderkin  were  members  of  the  com- 
mittee of  safety  and  doubtless  often  met  with  Jonathan 
Trumbull  and  Washington  in  the  Lebanon  war  ofhce. 

The  conspicuous  Windham  men  of  the  century  were  : 

First  and  foremost   Samuel   Huntington,    signer  of  the 


37 

Declaration  of  Independence,  for  a  brief  time  president  of 
the  Continental  Congress,  succeeding  John  Jay,  and  for 
ten  years  governor  of  Connecticut.  He  was  also  a  chief 
justice  of  the  superior  court.  He  was  a  man  of  great 
ability,  a  devoted  and  sincere  Christian  who  served  his 
generation  with  judgment  and  faithfulness  He  is  one  of 
the  immortals  whose  signature  to  that  old  parchment  of 
July  4,  1776,  in  Philadelphia,  should  give  a  tinge  of  pride 
to  every  true-born  Windham  son. 

Colonel  Eliphalet  Dyer  was  a  man  of  great  energy,  a 
member  of  the  Continental  Congress  from  1774,  and  a 
military  man  of  high  ability.  He  was  respected  more 
than  any  man  who  spent  his  life  in  the  town.  He  lived 
to  the  good  age  of  87  years  and  in  all  the  various  dignified 
stations  he  had  occupied,  both  civil  and  militarj',  he  was 
distinguished  for  his  highly  useful  talents  and  the  faithful 
and  honorable  discharge  of  his  important  duties. 

Rev.  Kleazer  Wheelock,  D.  D.,  who  established  the 
famous  Indian  charity  school  at  lycbanon,  was  a  native  of 
Windham  and  his  long  march  to  New  Hampshire  to  found 
Dartmouth  college,  is  one  of  the  educational  facts  of  im- 
portance to  New  England. 

Colonel  Jedediah  Klderkin,  Colonel  Ebenezer  Gray,  and 
others,  there  is  no  time  to  mention  in  detail. 

I  have  thus  briefly  reviewed  the  principal  movements  of 
Windham,  the,  religious,  secular,  commercial  and  mili- 
tary, during  the  first  centur}'  of  its  history.  Much  has 
been  omitted,  much  has  but  feebl}^  been  outlined. 
Enough,  however,  has  been  done  to  show  to  this,  a  later 
generation,  that  their  ancestry  and  that  of  the  town  is 
something  in  which  we  may  well  have  a  patriotic  pride. 
There  have  been  lessons  of  self-denial,  courage  and  per- 
sistence brought  to  our  view.  No  one  can  look  upon  the 
history  of  that  eventful  century,  as  Windham,  a  typical 
colonial  town,  reveals  it,  without  a  feeling  of  warmth  and 
reverence  for  those  who  founded  and  carried  on  its  activi- 
ties. How  can  w^e  help  loving  old  Windham  ?  As  a 
gifted  son  of  the  town  has  sung  when  once  more  he  visit- 


38 
ed  familiar  scenes  and  climbed  again   the  gray  old  hill  :— 

Obwebetuck,  once  more  with  grateful  feet, 

I  tread  at  eventide  th}^  mossy  height, 
Forget  the  city's  crowd,  the  noisy  street, 

And  feast  upon  the  landscape  with  delight. 

Afar  encircling  hills  shut  in  the  view, 

Within,  green  fields  and  woods  refresh  the  eye, 

While  just  below  Shetucket's  line  of  blue, 
Reflects  the  glory  of  the  parent  sky. 

I  see  the  village,  nestling  as  of  old, 

Beneath  the  shade  of  sycamores  and  elms, 

Its  roofs  and  spires  suffused  with  sunset  gold. 
The  past  conies  back  and  memory  overwhelms. 

A  little  nearer  lies  the  grassy  slope. 
Where  sleep  the  early  lost,  but  still  endeared. 

No  marble  mockery  of  faith  and  hope. 

No  broken  shaft  above  their  dust  is  reared, 

But  simple  tablets  cut  from  native  stone. 

Record  the  names  of  venerated  sires. 
And  show  the  narrow  path  by  which  alone 

Our  souls  can  satisfy  their  deep  desires. 

There  dwell  the  living  whom  I  fondly  love. 

Here  rest  the  weary  whom  I  long  to  see, 
And  in  the  kindling  heaven  that  bends  above, 

Our  blest  abode,  our  Paradise  shall  be. 

Dear  Windham,  if  my  wayward  heart  forget 

My  mother's  birthplace  and  her  kindred's  home. 

With  none  to  miss  me,  none  to  feel  regret. 

May  I  be  doomed  through  earth's  wide  waste  to  roam. 


WINDHAM'S  SECOND  CENTURY. 


BY   AI.LEN   BENNETT  LINCOLN. 


INTRODUCTORY. 

Human  thought  has  suggested  but  one  Being  to  whom 
"an  hundred  years  are  as  a  day."  For  one  of  His  crea- 
tures to  attempt  to  comprehend  a  centur>^  of  history  in  forty 
minutes  is  to  attempt  the  impossible. 

Liberal  borrowing  from  published  volumes,  inquir}^  of 
old  traditions,  and  prompt  responses  to  my  letters  by  many 
interested,  have  brought  me  a  flood  of  information  con- 
cerning Windham's  second  centurj-,  which  I  have  had 
barely  time  to  compile,  but  not  to  comprehend. 

I  shall  be  able  to  read  but  a  few  suggestive  passages, 
which  I  hope  may  serve  to  indicate  to  you  something  of 
what  the  life  and  character  of  the  town  of  Windham  has 
been  for  the  past  loo  years. 

TOPICS. 

Old  Windham,  North  and  South  Windham, 

Early  Willimantic,  Willimantic  Manufactures, 

The  Borough,  Windham  in  Reforms, 

The  Old  State  Militia,  Old  Windham  of  To-day, 

The  Churches,  Old  Landmarks, 

The  Railroads,  Willimantic's  Newspapers, 

The  Schools,  Notes  of  Interest, 

Windham  in  War,  Our  Present  Population, 
The  Future. 


40 
OLD   WINDHAM. 

The  opening  of  the  second  century  finds  Old  Windham 
in  the  zenith  of  her  glory  and  in  the  beginnings  of  her  de- 
cline. 

An  hundred  years  of  growth  had  ripened  her  into  the 
foremost  inland  town  east  of  the  Connecticut  river.  Nor- 
wich and  New  London  surpassed  her  in  wealth  and  num- 
bers, because  they  were  at  tide  w^ater,  but  Windham  sur- 
passed even  them  in  influential  association  with  the  head 
centers  of  government.  The  brilliant  Samuel  Hunting- 
ton of  Scotland  Parish,  ex-president  of  the  Continental 
Congress  and  late  chief  justice  for  Connecticut,  was  now 
in  the  sixth  year  of  his  decade  of  service  in  the  governor's 
chair,  and  he  made  frequent  visits  to  his  old  home.  Zeph- 
aniah  Swift,*  the  3'oung  lawyer  from  Tolland  county  who 
had  settled  in  Windham  years  before,  and  had  become  the 
oracle  of  local  wisdom  for  many  miles  around,  w^as  chosen 
to  congress  in  1793,  and  this  gave  Windham  direct  asso- 
ciation with  the  centers  of  national  influence.  Judge 
Swift  was  one  of  the  most  remarkable  men  of  his  time  and 
was  widely  sought  for  his  practical  advice  in  affairs.  His 
famous  "Swift's  Digest,"  compiled  here  in  Windham  after 
he  left  Congress,  was  long  a  standard  among  law  books, 
and  still  ranks  among  the  classics  of  the  profession.  The 
clergy,  lawyers,  doctors  and  business  men  of  Windham 
were  of  high  order  of  intelligence  and  took  a  lively  inter- 
est in  public  affairs.  The  Windham  "Herald,"  estab- 
lished in  1791,  was  fast  gaining  a  wide  circulation,  reach- 
ing about  1,200  copies  during  its  first  decade,  and  it 
served  to  make  Windham  the  center  of  actual  informa- 
tion as  well  as  of  intellectual  prestige. 

*  Judge  Swift  was  a  native  of  Old  Plymouth  county,  but  in  early  childhood  came 
to  Lebanon,  and  graduated  at  Yale  in  1778,  when  fifteen  years  old  ;  studied  law  and 
settled  for  a  brief  time  in  Mansfield,  then  came  to  Windham.  He  was  naturally 
adapted  to  public  life  and  received  rapid  advancement.  He  entered  the  legislature 
in  1787,  was  speaker  of  the  house  in  '92,  went  to  congress  in  '93,  and  soon  after  was 
secretary  of  a  legation  to  France.  Later  he  was  for  eighteen  years  a  superior  court 
judge,  and  the  five  latter  years  chief  justice  His  various  legal  writings  brought  or- 
der to  the  confusion  of  the  common  law.  He  was  the  moving  spirit  in  the  revision 
of  the  Connecticut  Statutes  in  1S21,  Here  at  Windham  he  wrought  out  that  invalu- 
able working  manual  "Swift's  Digest."  He  liyedin  the  spacious  mansion  on 
the  crown  of  the  hill  east  of  thevillage  now  occupied  by  the  family  of  the  late  George 
S.  Moulton.    Judge  Swift  died  at  the  age  of  64.  "   ' 


41 

Here,  too,  was  the  center  of  commercial  activity.  The 
old  Green  was  a  lively  trading  center.  Here  were  several 
small  manufactures,  large  and  progressive  for  those  days, 
and  a  score  or  more  of  stores,  where  the  prosperous  farm- 
ers of  the  vicinity  bartered  their  products  for  the  dry  and 
wet  goods  brought  from  the  New  York  market  and  the 
West  Indies.  Here  stockings  and  mittens  were  made 
from  home-grown  wool,  and  large  flocks  of  sheep  dotted 
the  hillsides.  Col.  Hlderkin  wove  silk  fabrics  from  his  own 
mulberry  orchard  for  his  favored  daughters  and  for  the 
New  York  market.  Elisha  Abbe's  stanch  and  dapper 
little  craft,  "The  Windham,"  with  a  frog  militant  at  her 
bow,  plied  the  coast  waters  in  the  carrying  trade  as  proud- 
ly as  her  more  pretentious  rivals.  Here  on  the  Green 
was  "the  largest  drug  store  in  Eastern  Connecticut," 
w^herein  Col.  Dj^er's  son  Benjamin  had  kept  his  fabulous 
stock  worth  i,ooo  pounds.  Col.  Dyer  had  built  a  dam 
across  the  Shetucket  at  South  Windham,  and  another  at 
the  Frog  Pond,  and  saw  and  grist  mills  w^ere  operated  at 
these  and  other  points.  Henry  DeWitt,  a  convict  at  the 
county  jail,  had  caught  the  industrial  inspiration  and  by 
deft  handiwork  wrought  headed  tacks  out  of  old  iron,  and 
thus  won  rank  among  the  pioneers  in  tack  manufacture. 

As  shire  town  since  1726,  Windham  w^as  also  at  this 
time  the  great  center  of  all  county  gatherings,  not  only 
for  courts  and  political  conferences,  but  for  religious  as- 
sociations as  well,  in  w^hich  its  "First  Church"  was  a 
leader.  Here  too  was  Windham  Academy' ,  finishing 
school  for  her  own  thirteen  populous  districts,  and  educa- 
tional center  for  surrounding  towns.  The  population  of 
Windham  at  this  time,  including  Scotland  and  parts  of 
Chaplin,  Lebanon  and  Columbia,  was  somewhat  over 
2,500.  Over  at  "Willimantic  Falls"  there  was  only  a 
grist  mill  and  a  tannery,  besides  the  disused  powder  mill 
and  iron  works,  and  nothing  to  foreshadow  the  future, 
save  that  old  "Uncle"  Amos  Dodge  had  predicted  that  a 
great  settlement  would  one  day  grow  out  of  the  privi- 
leges of  the  rapid  water  fall. 


42 

Such  was  Windham  at  the  opening  of  the  second  cen- 
tury. But  her  glor}'  was  more  ripened  than  growing,  and 
decline  had  already  set  in. 

The  most  potent  factor  of  disintegration  was  religious 
dissension.  The  Separatist  agitation  was  in  its  last 
stages.  The  demoralization  and  burdens  of  war  had 
fanned  the  flame  of  dissatisfaction  with  the  existing  order. 
The  men  of  the  Dyer  and  Klderkin  stamp,  who  had  been 
so  influential  on  orthodox  and  established  lines,  were  pass- 
ing awa)^  the  infidel  influences  of  the  French  revolution, 
added  to  our  own  newly-acquired  freedom  from  kingly 
rule,  led  to  a  relaxation  in  moral  and  civil  affairs  that  was 
disastrous  for  a  time,  until  the  rising  generation  came  to 
a  clearer  appreciation  of  the  responsibilities,  as  well  as  the 
privileges,  of  civil  and  religious  liberty.  But  this  will  ap- 
pear in  detail  when  we  come  to  review  the  status  of  the 
churches.  Suffice  it  to  say  that  with  the  first  decade  of 
our  new  century,  there  comes  a  decline  of  public  spirit 
and  unity,  a  scattering  of  the  forces  that  had  made  Old 
Windham  what  she  was,  and  a  looking  towards  new  fields 
of  development. 

The  first  avenue  which  led  people  away  from  Old  Wind- 
ham was  the  upbuilding  of  the  great  Turnpike  lines  for 
through  travel  by  stages.  True,  they  brought  to  her 
hotels  an  increasing  patronage  and  for  a  time  made  her 
more  of  a  center  of  hospitality  than  ever,  but  they  also 
opened  the  eyes  of  her  young  men  to  the  outside  world 
and  her  population  continued  steadily  to  decline.  The 
Windham  Turnpike  Company  was  organized  in  1799  to 
equip  the  road  from  Plainfield  to  Coventry,  as  a  part  of 
the  through  system  from  Hartford  to  Providence. 
Timothy  lyarrabee  was  the  moving  spirit  in  this  enterprise 
and  the  next  year  he  led  in  another  company  to  build  a 
turnpike  from  Franklin  to  Stafford,  an  extension  of  the 
New  London  &  Norwich  line,  which  afterwards  went  on 
to  Springfield.  The  building  of  turnpikes  led  also  to  the 
general  development  of  better  roads  to  surrounding  towns. 

Four-wheeled  wagons  made  their   first   appearance  in 


43 

Windham  in  1809  and  were  the  wonder  of  the  time,  few 
believing  that  a  horse  could  ever  draw  one.  In  181 8  the 
Natchaug  river  was  bridged  at  what  is  still  called  the 
"Horseshoe"  bridge  (because  of  the  shape  in  the  bend  of 
the  river  just  above)  and  direct  connection  with  Willi- 
niantic  Falls  was  thus  secured. 

During  the  stage-coach  days  Windham's  taverns  be- 
came famous  for  their  generous  and  free-hearted  hospitality. 
The  most  famous  was  the  Fitch  tavern,  which  stood  on 
the  site  of  the  present  Windham  hotel.  Its  distinctive 
sign,  then  the  type  of  the  times,  was  the  "jolly  rotund 
Bacchus,"  as  the  image  was  then  called,  which  was 
perched  aloft  on  the  sign  post,  but  which  looks  to  the  ad- 
vancing intelligence  of  to-day  more  like  a  grinning, 
bloated  idiot  than  an  attractive  t3'pe  of  pleasure.  Later 
the  old  Stanniford  Inn  was  in  its  glor>^,  standing  where 
Thomas  Ramsdell's  house  now  is,  and  with  a  magnificent 
elm,  long  since  gone,  spreading  its  hospitable  branches 
over  the  inn  and  green.  On  an  arm  of  that  elm  the 
Bacchus  image  rested  for  many  years  until,  some  time  after 
the  Washingtonian  movement,  a  great  gust  of  God's 
righteous  breezes  broke  off  the  limb  and  the  image 
descended.  It  is  still  preserved  by  A.  E.  Brooks  of  Hart- 
ford. There  were  a  dozen  or  more  smaller  houses  that 
entertained  the  numerous  travellers  who  came  this  way. 
Henry  Larrabee  well  remembers  the  four-horse  coaches 
that  passed  here  daily  in  1840,  from  north,  south,  east  and 
west.  There  were  several  smaller  stage  lines  for  mail  ser- 
vice, from  Windham  to  Woodstock,  Middletown  and 
other  points.  Such  were  the  modes  of  public  travel 
until  the  advent  of  railroads  in  1849. 

Windham  took  keen  interest  in  the  movement  for  the 
state  constitution  which  culminated  in  18 18.  The  under- 
lying motive  of  its  advocates  was  to  overthrow  the  church 
tax  and  leave  men  free  to  worship  as  they  chose.  The 
Federalist  party,  maintained  on  conservative  lines,  was 
falling  to  pieces.  It  was  only  by  showing  liberal  tenden- 
cies that  Judge  Swift  had  been  chosen  to  Congress.     The 


44 

"Sectaries"  entered  then  with  increased  vigor  the  move- 
ment for  a  new  constitution.  Peter  Webb,  a  leading 
merchant  and  Republican  (as  the  Democrats  of  those 
days  were  called)  boldl}^  declared  that  the  Connecticut 
Charter  was  "no  constitution  at  all"  and  to  the  consterna- 
tion of  the  Conservatives  there  was  sufficient  approval 
of  the  sentiment  to  elect  him  to  the  legislature  in  1804, 
and  thereafter  he  and  others  of  similar  view  were  repeat- 
edly sent  up  to  the  General  Court.  It  is  interesting  to 
note  that  the  same  argument  was  made  against  constitu- 
tional reform  that  we  hear  so  much  in  the  present  similiar 
movement,  namely,  that  the  instrument  was  "too  sacred" 
to  be  disturbed  and  that  disaster  would  follow  the  repeal  of 
ancient  customs.  But  the  vigorous  Windham  reformers 
kept  right  on,  and  Peter  Webb  was  one  of  three  chosen 
from  Windham  county  to  help  draft  the  constitution  of 
1818. 

The  decisive  blow  to  Old  Windham's  prestige  and  the 
last  great  mark  of  her  decline  was  the  removal  of  the 
court  house  and  count}^  seat  to  Brooklyn  in  18 19.  She 
had  been  shire  town  for  nearly  a  hundred  years,  and  all 
the  interests  of  this  section  had  centered  here.  But  now, 
— disintegrating  influences  were  at  work  all  around  her. 
The  northern  towns  of  the  county  had  grown  in  popula- 
tion and  influence  and  objected  to  travelling  so  far  for 
public  conveniences.  To  the  west,  young  Willimantic  was 
drawing  aw^ay  citizens  and  industries  and  opening  up  new 
fields.  As  early  as  1797  Timothy  Larrabee  and  others 
had  met  representatives  of  the  northern  towns  to  counter- 
act their  movement  against  Windham's  shire-town  privi- 
leges. The  struggle  was  long  and  hotly  contested.  But 
in-  1 8 19  the  General  Court  decreed  that  Brooklyn  should 
have  the  coveted  privilege,  and  Windham  was  reluctantl}^ 
forced  to  3'ield.  The  county-seat  question  has  ever  since 
been  one  of  intermittent  interest,  and  even  now  lingers 
with  suggestive  possibilities.  For  years  after  the  removal 
to  Brooklyn,  Windham  fought  to  regain  at  least  half- 
shire   privileges,   but  to  no  avail.     Chaplin,   portions   of 


45 

Columbia  and  Ivcbanon,  which  had  made  her  their  judicial 
center,  now  drew  away,  and  Old  Windham's  day  was 
over.  But  in  later  days  these  same  towais  have  come  to 
look  upon  the  new  Windham  at  Willimantic  as  their 
natural  center  in  trade.  The  modern  drift  of  people  and 
business  to  large  towns  has  left  Brooklyn  more  completely 
at  one  side  than  ever  Old  Windham  was  left,  and  the  par- 
tial shire  privileges  granted  to  Willimantic  in  recent  years 
suggest  that  a  new  county  of  the  towns  surrounding  her 
is  not  an  impossible  thing. 


EARL  Y  WILLIMANTIC. 

With  the  loss  of  the  county  seat,  attention  centered  at 
once  upon  the  growing  settlement  at  Willimantic  as  the 
hope  of  the  town. 

The  3'ears  1822- 1827  were  big  with  prophetic  events. 
As  early  as  1806  a  machine  for  picking  and  carding 
sheep's  wool  had  been  set  up  at  "The  Falls,"  in  the  mills 
of  Clark  &  Gay,  to  supplement  the  saw,  grist  and  paper 
mills.  But  Eli  Whitney's  great  invention  marked  a  new" 
era  of  manufacture,  and  Willimantic,  m  common  with  all 
the  valleys  of  Eastern  Connecticut,  was  soon  attacked 
with  the  cotton  fever.  The  rapid  fall  of  the  river, — 
about  ninety-one  feet  between  the  Windham  Company's 
and  the  Shetucket  Junction, — had  given  the  place  its 
early  name  and  now  proved  a  rare  attraction  to  manu-^ 
facturers. 

First  came  from  Providence  in  1822  Perez  O.  Richmond, 
who  with  the  financial  aid  of  Solomon  Loring,  father  of 
A.  Dunbar  Loring,  built  a  little  cotton  spinning  mill  near 
the  present  site  of  the  Linen  Compan3^'s  No.  3.  Then 
came  the  Jillson  Bros.,  William  from  Rhode  Island,  and 
Asa  and  Seth  from  Dorchester,  AIas^s,.^d  built  three 
mills,  one  now  remaining,  (the  present  spool  shop),  also 
the  old  Duck  mill  and  another  three-story  structure,  both 
of  which  stood  next  east  of  the  spool  shop,  but  were  later 
removed    for   the    Linen    Company's   present   structures. 


46 

The  Jillsons  built  in  1824  the  "old  stone  row"  of  tenement 
houses  which  used  to  stand  along  the  north  bank  of  the 
river  about  where  the  N.  Y.  &  N.  E.  R.  R.'s  south  spur 
track  now  runs.  Tingley  &  Watson  of  Providence  started 
the  Windham  Compan3^'s  mill  at  its  present  location 
in  1823,  building  the  main  mill,  and  the  new  east  mill  w^as 
built  in  1827.  Deacon  Charles  Lee  of  Windham  had 
meanwhile  started  a  little  mill  on  the  site  of  the  present 
Smithville  Company's  plant,  and  built  the  row  of  white 
tenement  houses  north  of  the  mill  on  Main  street,  and  in 
1827  the  stone  store  and  boarding  house,  still  standing  at  the 
corner  of  Bridge  and  Main  streets.  But  Deacon  Lee's  enter- 
prise never  obtained  a  foothold,  and  not  much  was  done  at 
this  site  until  the  Smithville  Company  was  organized  in 
1845,  by  Messrs.  A.  D.  and  J.  Y.  (afterw^ards  Governor) 
Smith  of  Rhode  Island,  who  put  Whiting  Hayden  in 
charge  and  built  up  a  prosperous  industry. 

The  building  of  these  mills  in  the  early  '20s  was  the  one 
theme  of  conversation  for  years.  Fabulous  stories  were 
told  of  the  wealth  of  the  men  who  could  rear  such  stately 
structures  !  The  employees  of  those  days  were  of  the 
native  stock. 

Interesting  recollections  of  the  polling  places  of  the 
earl}^  part  of  the  century  have  come  to  hand.  After  the 
count}'  seat  was  removed,  the  voting  was  done  in  the 
church  at  Windham  Centre  until  the  Townhouse  w^as  built 
in  1835.  Contention  soon  arose  from  Scotland  on  the  one 
side  and  Willimantic  on  the  _other  that  it  was  not  con- 
venient to  travel  to  Windham  to  .vote.  For  a  time,  there- 
fore, it  was  arranged  that  the  voting  should  be  done 
b}'  turns,  one  year  at  Windham  Green,  the  next  at  Scot- 
land, the  next  at  Willimantic,  and  so  on.  But  of  course 
this  plan  was  still  more  unsatisfactory,  especiall}"  for 
the  extremes  of  Willimantic  and  Scotland,  so  the  polling 
place  was  returned  to  Windham  Center,  and  there 
remained  until  removed  to  Willimantic  about  1862.  The 
town  records  were  removed  about  the  same  time,  William 
Swift,  son  of  Justin,  and  the  leading  merchant  and  citizen  of 


later  Windham  Center  and  for  many  years  town  clerk, 
was  succeeded  by  Allen  Lincoln,  one  of  the  most  active 
promoters  of  the  rapid  upbuilding  of  Willimantic  after  the 
war  of  '6i-'5,  and  who  remained  town  clerk  17  years.  Scot- 
land foresaw  that  Willimantic  was  destined  to  overshadow 
Windham  Center,  and  not  wishing  to  go  so  far  for  her 
public  conveniences,  began  to  agitate  for  separation,  and 
in  1857  became  a  separate  town  in  all  but  probate  priv- 
ileges, for  which  latter  she  still  looks  to  Willimantic. 

The  building  of  so  many  dams  across  the  river  ended 
the  days  of  shad  fishing.  This  had  been  a  popular  pas- 
time for  the  old  Windhamites  in  the  first  century  of  the 
town,  and  was  the  first  attraction  to  the  vicinity  of  "The 
Falls.  "  Not  a  few  enterprising  fishermen  used  to  catch 
shad  from  the  Willimantic  and  take  them  to  New  Haven 
when  the  legislature  was  in  session,  and  sell  them  for  fifty 
cents  a  pound.  Fish  stories  of  the  first  magnitude  have 
come  down  to  us  from  those  old  days,  but  I  w^ill  eschew 
fiction  and  mention  only  one  fact,  which  proves  that  hand- 
some shad  w^ere  caught  in  the  Willimantic  as  late  as  1830. 

Robert  Brown,  the  veteran  real  estate  agent,  tells  me 
that  he  recalls  sitting  under  an  old  tree  in  front  of  'Squire 
Howes's  blacksmith  shop  near  the  "Iron  Works  bridge,  " 
one  morning  in  June,  1830,  while  his  father  went  to  the 
river  with  three  other  men,  at  a  point  near  the  end  of  the 
present  No.  2  mill,  to  seine  for  shad;  and  in  a  short  time 
the}^  drew  the  net  and  caught  thirty-one  shad,  weighing 
from  three  to  five  pounds  each.  They  hauled  frequentlj^ 
during  the  rest  of  the  morning,  but  got  only  one  more,  and 
at  noon  they  divided,  eight  shad  each,  and  went  home. 
Robert  recalls  that  his  father  had  some  fresh-made  butter 
in  a  pail  to  deliver  at  the  store,  and  it  was  left  standing  in 
the  sun  during  the  fishing  trip,  to  its  great  disadvantage, 
and  his  father  got  a  sharp  talking  to  when  he  got  home; 
which  incident  is  mentioned  to  show  that  men  and  women 
w^ere  much  the  same  in  those  days  as  now. 

When  the  great  dam  at  Greeneville,  near  Norwich,  was 
constructed,  the  builders  agreed  to  place  a  certain  number 


48 

of  shad  above  the  dam  each  year,  so  as  to  keep  the  She- 
tucket  and  upper  rivers  supplied;  but  it  appears  that  they 
used  to  comply  with  the  letter  of  the  law  by  placing  the 
shad  in  a  fish  preserve  above  the  dam,  and  then  placing 
them  in  market  for  sale;  and  so  the  shad  disappeared  from 
the  Willimantic  by  the  greed  of  short-sighted  speculators. 
One  of  the  most  interesting  recollections  of  earl}^  Willi- 
mantic appertains  to  the  building  of  the  upper  bridge 
leading  from  the  Columbia  road  to  the  Windham  Co.'s 
mills.  About  1830,  Stephen  Hosmer  lived  in  the  large 
white  house  still  standing  at  the  foot  of  Hosmer  mountain, 
next  east  of  the  old  Card  road.  He  owned  500  acres  or 
more  of  land,  with  a  toll  gate  at  either  end,  one  on  Post 
hill  in  Columbia  and  the  other  standing  at  the  northwest 
side  of  what  is  now  the  junction  of  Bridge  and  Pleasant 
sts.,  and  where  the  foundation  remains  of  the  old  red  toll- 
gate  house,  only  lately  torn  down,  may  still  be  seen.  It 
used  to  cost  six  cents  for  a  single  toll  when  on  business, 
but  one  could  pass  free  to  mill  or  to  meeting;  while  for  $1 
a  year,  free  passage  at  all  times  was  allowed.  The  build- 
ing of  the  Windham  Company's  settlement  and  Deacon 
Lee's  plant  made  quite  a  village  in  that  section  and  a  de- 
mand arose  for  a  bridge  to  reach  it  from  Lebanon  and 
Columbia  without  going  away  down  around  b}^  the  Iron 
Works  Bridge.  The  fight  for  that  bridge  was  a  vigorous 
one.  The  town  did  not  want  to  bear  the  expense.  Appeal 
to  the  courts  was  taken  and  a  special  commission,  after 
vigorous  hearings,  ordered  the  bridge.  It  was  a  wooden 
structure  of  course,  and  it  was  not  until  1868  that  the 
present  substantial  stone  arch  was  built  b}^  Lyman  Jordan. 
The  lower  stone  arch,  b}^  the  way,  was  also  built  b}'  Ly- 
man Jordan  and  Norman  Melony,  in  1857.  The  story 
goes  that  Lebanon  was  a  little  longer-headed  than  Wind- 
ham when  she  surrendered  her  shad-fishing  privileges  in 
return  for  being  released  from  Windham,  thereby  escap- 
ing a  share  of  the  expense  of  building  the  many  bridges 
that  stage-coach  development  and  the  growth  of  manufac- 
tures demanded. 


p 


49 

Many  stories  are  told  of  the  wealth  that  might  have 
been  this  one's  or  that  one's  if  he  had  only  held  the  land 
in  Willimantic  now  covered  by  costly  buildings,  but  it  is 
to  be  considered  that  had  the  land  been  held  the  buildings 
would  not  have  appeared  !  But  some  did  hold  land  to 
great  advantage  in  early  Willimantic.  One  of  the  best 
illustrations  is  the  case  of  Jesse  Spafford,  who,  shortly  be- 
fore 1820  and  the  appearance  of  the  factories,  was  settling 
an  estate,  and  he  set  off  to  one  of  the  heirs,  as  equivalent 
to  $100  in  value,  a  strip  of  unoccupied  land  stretching 
alongside  the  Willimantic  river  and  south  of  the  turnpike 
(now  Main  street)  from  about  opposite  the  Hooker  house 
to  E.  A.  Buck's  present  steam  mill.  The  heir  in  question 
grumbled  at  the  allotment  and  Spafford  offered  him  his 
choice  of  the  land,  or  $100  in  cash,  Spafford  to  take  the 
land.  The  short-sighted  heir  seized  the  cash  and  Spafford 
took  the  land.  Shortl}^  afterwards  came  the  factories, 
then  the  railroads,  wdth  the  depot  located  on  the  Spafford 
tract.  General  ly.  B.  Baldwin  bought  of  Spafford  the 
Franklin  hall  site,  paying  $600  for  that  alone.  Spafford 
died  worth  about  $40,000,  practically  all  the  outgrowth  of 
his  $100  tract. 


THE    BOROUGH. 

In  1833  the  Willimantic  settlement  had  grown  to  a  char- 
acter of  its  own,  as  a  manufacturing  center  distinct  from 
Old  Windham;  and  to  conserve  its  own  ends  more  directly, 
application  was  made  for  a  Borough  charter,  which  w^as 
granted  by  the  legislature  in  1833,  through  the  efforts  of 
Representative  Stephen  Hosmer.  July  ist  of  that  year, 
the  first  Borough  election  w^as  held  with  the  following  re- 
sult: Warden,  Loring  Carpenter;  Burgesses,  Wightman 
Williams,  Asa  Jillson,  Samuel  Barrows.  Jr.,  Wm.  C.  Boon, 
Dr.  William.  Witter,  Royal  Jennings,  Elisha  Weaver,  Dr. 
Newton  Fitch;  Bailiff,  Stephen  Dexter.  A  tax  was  levied 
and  Thomas  Cunningham  was  appointed  Collector. 


50 
THE  OLD  STATE  MILITIA. 

Among  the  most  interesting  of  memories  are  those  of 
the  old  *'  Training  Days.  "  Company  trainings  were  held 
the  first   Mondays  in  May  and  September  of   each  3'ear. 

All  men  between  the  ages  of  18  and  45  were  obliged  to  do 
training  duty,  unless  they  had  some  reasonable  excuse. 
The  military  or  commutation  tax  takes  the  place  of  this 
system  to-day. 

Training  days  were  made  gala  occasions,  ''  The 
Plains" — that  smooth  stretch  of  land  at  the  foot  of  the 
hill,  west  of  the  Center — were  the  scene  of  the  regi- 
mental trainings. 

The  farmer's  motive  for  quick  and  early  planting  in 
May  and  for  quick  and  early  harvesting  in  September, 
was  to  get  done  in  time  for  training  day. 

The  Windham  Rifle  Company  was  organized  in  1828, 
with  Henry  Hall  as  Captain.  The  members  of  the  com- 
pany attained  a  high  degree  of  soldierly  proficiency  and 
dignity  which  nothing  but  the  old  Hebard  tavern  ban- 
quets could  overcome.  July  4th,  1829,  the  company  was 
presented  with  a  handsome  silk  banner  by  the  ladies  of 
Willimantic,  and  the  ladies  were  entertained  at  Hebard' s 
tavern.  The  company  served  as  special  guard  in  Brook- 
lyn August  31st,  1829,  at  the  hanging  of  Watkins  the 
murderer,  the  last  public  execution  in  Connecticut. 

Successive  captains  of  the  company  were  David  Smith, 
Wm.  ly.  Jillson,  John  H.  Capen,  John  S.  Jillson,  lyloyd  E. 
Baldwin,  EdwenS.  Fitch,  Wni.  B.  Hawkins,  Pearl  L.  Peck, 
Rensalaer  O.  Hovey.  They  disbanded  in  1847,  when  the 
State  militia  system  was  changed.  The  greatest  event  of 
Windham  in  militia  times  was  the  great  field  drill  inspec- 
tion of  the  5th  Brigade  Conn.  Militia  Sept.  29th  and  30th, 
r846,  at  Windham.  Spectators  w^ere  gathered  from  miles 
around  and  from  all  parts  of  the  State.  Gen.  E.  E.  Bald- 
win was  in  command,  and  about  2000  privates  and  officers 
were  assembled  on  the  Green.  Major  Gen.  Amos  Fowler 
of  Lebanon  was  reviewing  officer,  William  Swaft  was  aide, 
and  the  Rev.  Horace  Winslow  was  chaplain.      Three  of 


51 

these  men,  Messrs.  Baldwin,  Swift  and  Winslow,  are  here 
at  the  bi-centennial  celebration  to-day.  General  Fowler 
still  lives,  in  lyebanon. 

WINDHAM'S   CHURCHES. 

The  opening  of  the  second  century  finds  Old  Windham's' 
churches  in  the  last  stages  of  the  Separatist  or  Sectarian 
agitation,  and  the  old-time  united  loyalty  and  obligation 
to  a  common  church  and  creed  were  never  to  return.  It 
was  now  settled  that  any  person  could  worship  according 
to  the  dictates  of  conscience,  but  it  was  still  obligatory  to 
worship  somewhere,  or  at  least  to  pay  taxes  for  the  sup- 
port of  some  religious  institution.  The  venerable  Rever- 
ends White  at  the  Green,  and  Cogswell  at  Scotland,  were 
sorely  perplexed  by  these  difficulties,  and  found  it  impos- 
sible to  preserve  harmon3^  Mr.  White  died  in  1793,  and 
young  Elijah  Waterman  came  from  Bozrah  to  succeed 
him.  His  youth  attracted  many  to  him  for  a  time,  but  he 
began  a  vigorous  crusade  against  the  prevailing  heresies. 
Finally  a  portion  of  the  liberals  "certificated"  themselves 
away  to  form  an  Episcopal  societ}',  and  the}^  had  the  Rev. 
John  Tyler  of  Norwich,  for  an  occasional  preacher.  They 
thus  escaped  paying  taxes  to  Mr.  Waterman's  church, 
which  was  thereby  sadly  crippled,  so  that  he  resigned  in 
1805,  and  no  settled  pastor  came  again  till  1808.  Then 
the  Rev.  Mr.  Andrews  undertook  the  troublous  task,  but 
to  no  avail,  and  he  requested  dismissal,  which  was  granted 
him  in  18 13.  The  next  incumbent,  Rev.  Cornelius  B. 
Everest,  ordained  in  18 15,  proved  a  man  of  superior  tact, 
and  the  church  became  more  united,  and  there  were  even 
accessions.  He  was  much  favored,  of  course,  b}^  the  new 
era  of  religious  liberty  under  the  constitution  of  18 18,  by 
which  the  old  tax  obligations  to  the  church  were  abolished, 
and  people  were  left  free  as  now  to  sustain  the  church  or 
not,  as  they  chose.  Mr.  Everest  remained  until  1827, 
w^hen  he  was  succeeded  by  the  Rev.  R.  F.  Cleveland  of 
Norwich,  father  of  him  who  has  since  become  famous  as 


52 

President  Grover  Cleveland.  This  was  Mr.  Cleve- 
land's first  pastorate,  and  soon  after  he  was  ordained  he 
went  to  Philadelphia  and  brought  back  a  bonny  bride  to 
share  his  new  responsibilities.  The}^  are  remembered  as 
very  agreeable  young  people.  Two  of  the  children  were 
born  here,  but  not  the  future  president.  It  is  recalled 
that  Mr.  Cleveland  was  fond  of  horse-back  riding.  His 
ministry  was  quite  successful,  lasting  three  years.  In 
1828  Deacon  I^ee  and  a  number  of  others  withdrew  to  join 
the  newly  formed  church  at  Willimantic.  No  settled  pas- 
tor was  again  ordained  until  the  Rev.  J.  E.  T3der  came  in 

1837. 

The  other  pastors  since  Mr.  Tyler,  who  resigned 
in  1851,  have  been  Revs.  Geo.  I.  Stearns,  Samuel  Hopley, 
Hiram  Day,  A.  F.  Keith,  Frank  Thompson,  F.  A.  Hold- 
en,  W.  S.  Kelse}^  F.  M.  Wiswall,  the  last  named  having 
just  resigned.  Four  buildings  have  served  the  church,  the 
present  structure  having  been  dedicated  in  1887.  The 
first  church  of  Windham  has  sent  out  four  strong 
churches  from  her  loins,  to  Mansfield,  Hampton,  Scotland, 
Willimantic,  besides  others  minor. 

The  first  attempt  to  form  an  Episcopal  Society  in  1803, 
did  not  gain  a  foothold.  In  1832,  however,  a  permanent 
society  was  formed,  and  in  1833  the  present  church  was 
built.  The  first  rector  was  Rev.  L.  H.  Corson,  who 
recently  died  in  Michigan;  then  William  A.  Curtis,  Charles 
Todd,  John  W.  Woodward,  Henry  B.  Sherman,  Giles  N. 
Deshon,  Abel  Nichols,  A.  Ogden  Easter,  Joseph  Brew- 
ster, Harry  Edwards,  Sanford  J.  Horton  (who  started  here 
a  select  school  for  bo3^s  and  took  them  with  him  to 
Cheshire),  John  H.  Anketell,  Alfred  H.  Stubbs,  Clayton 
Eddy,  E.  W^.  Saunders,  and  since  the  establishment  of 
St.  Paul's  mission  at  Willimantic,  the  rectors  there  have 
officiated  at  W^indham,  as  will  appear  in  m}^  subsequent 
reference  to  the  Willimantic  mission.  The  present  num- 
ber of  communicants  in  the  Windham  Episcopal  parish 
is  23  ;  connected  with  parish  61. 

One  of  the  Separatist  organizations  in  Old  Windham  was 


53 

a  Baptist  society,  which  we  find  at  the  beginning  of  the 
second  centur}'  in  charge  of  Elder  Benjamin  Lathrop, 
who  was  chosen  to  the  Legislature  chiefly  on  that  issue. 

Over  at  North  Windham,  Joshua  Abbe  led  another 
Baptist  sect,  called  the  Abbe-ites.  Little  other  than  mis- 
sions have  ever  been  maintained  at  North  or  South  Wind- 
ham. Attempts  at  regular  church  organization  have  been 
feeble  and  short  lived.  After  Elder  Lathrop's  death,  the 
Baptists  at  the  Green  were  weakened  and  scattered  for  a 
time,  but  soon  rallied  and  held  meetings  in  Andrew  Rob- 
inson's great  kitchen,  with  various  preachers,  including 
Lorenzo  Dow  and  Roger  Bingham,  but  after  the  constitu- 
tion of  1818,  and  the  abolition  of  the  church  tax,  these 
meetings  died  out.  There  was  another  Baptist  organiza- 
tion on  the  Green  about  1846,  but  it  was  short  lived  and 
its  members  drifted  to  Willimantic  and  Mansfield.  In 
1850,  this  church  was  changed  to  Presbj^terian,  but  soon 
disbanded.  The  old  church  was  sold  and  removed  to 
Bolton  for  a  Baptist  church,  and  was  afterwards  burned. 

In  Willimantic,  the  Congregational  church  was  organ- 
ized in  1827,  Dennis  Piatt,  a  Yale  theologue,  was  the 
first  pastor.  Its  first  church,  now  made  over  into  the 
Melonc}^  Block,  opposite  the  Hooker  House,  was  built  in 
1828.  Rev.  Ralph  S.  Crampton  of  Madison  was  the  next 
pastor,  then  came  Philo  Judson  of  Woodbury,  then  the 
Rev.  Andrew  S.  Sharpe,  who  served  for  nine  3'ears. 
November  8th,  1846,  the  Rev.  Samuel  G.  Willard  entered 
upon  a  long  and  successful  ministry  of  nineteen  years. 
Mr.  Willard  was  a  staunch  friend  of  education,  taking 
active  interest  in  the  public  schools,  was  acting  visitor  for 
many  years,  and  his  scholarly  attainments  won  him  a 
place  among  the  Fellows  of  Yale  College. 

He  was  succeeded  in  1869  by  the  Rev.  Horace  Winslow, 
who  remained  twelve  years  and  was  chiefly  instrumental  in 
getting  the  society  to  build  the  new  church  at  the  corner 
of  Walnut  and  Valley  streets,  dedicated  in  May,  1871. 
After  Mr.  Winslow,  came  two  popular  acting  pastors,  but 
not  ordained,  Rev.  S.  R.  Free   and   C.   P.   Crofts,   and  in 


54 

December,   1890,   the    present  pastor,    Rev.    C.    A.   Dins- 
more,  was  ordained.     The  church  has  225  members. 

The  Baptist  church  was  the  first  one  organized  in  Will- 
limantic,  Oct.  20th,  1827.  The  Rev.  Chester  Tilden  was 
first  pastor.  They  first  held  meetings  in  school  houses, 
but  hot  prejudices  barred  them  out.  Their  first  structure 
was  dedicated  in  1829,  on  the  site  of  the  present  one.  It 
was  sold  to  the  Catholics  in  1857,  and  the  present  build- 
ing, since  much  enlarged  and  improved,  was  then  built. 

The  pastors  since  Mr.  Tilden  have  been  Alfred  Gates, 
Alva  Gregor}^  Benajah  Cook,  John  B.  Guild,  L.  W. 
Wheeler,  Thomas  Dowling,  Henrj'  Bromley,  Cj^rus  Miner, 
Henry  R.  Knapp,  Edward  Bell,  Jabez  Swan,  E.  D. 
Bentley,  E.  S.  Wheeler,  G.  R.  Damon,  P.  S.  Evans,  W. 
A.  Fenn,  Geo.  W.  Holman,   M.  G.  Coker,   J.   B.   Lemon. 

The  church  has  now  about  400 members  on  its  roll.  The 
late  Deacon  A.  H.  Fuller  was  closely  identified  with  it  for 
many  years,  donating  its  handsome  pipe  organ. 

The  Methodists  organized  in  Willimantic  about  the 
same  time.  Some  of  them  held  class  meetings  as  early  as 
1825.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Gardner  came  and  preached  in  the 
west  school  house  about  1826,  and  in  September,  1829, 
the  first  M.  E.  church  was  built,  on  the  present  site  of  the 
Atwood  Block.  The  Rev.  Horace  Moulton  was  the  first 
pastor. 

The  present  church  was  begun  in  1850,  but  has  since 
been  thoroughly  modernized  in  its  interior.  The  parson- 
age on  Prospect  street  was  built  in  1868,  before  that  street 
was  built,  and  was  then  thought  to  be  almost  in  the  wil- 
derness. The  numerous  itinerant  pastors  have  been  since 
1828  :  Daniel  Fletcher,  H.  Ramsdell,  P.  Townsend,  E. 
Beebe,  George  Ma}^,  J.  E.  Raisley,  Hebron  Vincent,  K. 
Ward,  Mosele}^  Dwight,  Philetus  Green,  S.  Leonard,  H. 
Horbush,  Reuben  Ransom,  Pasdon  A.  C.  Wheat,  F.  W. 
Bill,  Chas.  Noble,  John  Cooper,  Daniel  Dorchester,  A. 
Robinson,  Jonathan  Cady,  N.  P.  Alderman,  Geo.  W. 
Rogers,  Chas.  Morse,  Wm.  Purington,  John  Livesey,  Wm. 
Kellen,    E.   B.   Bradford,    Geo.   W.   Brewster,    Edgar  F. 


55 

Clark,  Geo.  E.  Reed,  Chas.  S.  McReading,  Shadrach 
Leader,  Geo.  W.  Miller,  S.  J.  Carroll,  Wm.  T.  Worth, 
A.  J.  Church,  S.  McBurney,  D.  P.  Leavitt,  Eben  Tirrell, 
C.  W.  Holden,  A.  P.  Palmer,  the  present  pastor. 

In  connection  with  the  Methodist  church,  the  Williman- 
tic  camp  ground  should  be  mentioned.  Started  in  i860, 
it  at  first  grew  in  popular  favor  in  a  manner  quite  different 
from  what  its  projectors  intended,  and  the  annual  summer 
meetings  became  after  a  time,  the  rendezvous  for  thous- 
ands of  pleasure  seekers,  and  with  the  crowd  there  flocked 
to  Willimantic  and  along  the  road  to  the  grounds,  a  horde 
of  hucksters  or  horse  traders,  to  the  equal  annoj^ance  of 
the  association  and  the  borough.  "Right  away  to  camp" 
became  the  annual  shibboleth  of  a  crowded,  lively  and 
sometimes  boisterous  week  in  Willimantic.  But  the  as- 
sociation firmly  pursued  the  even  tenor  of  its  way,  de- 
veloping the  grounds  as  intended,  and  in  later  3'ears 
the  popular  furore  over  camp-meeting  has  given  place 
to  gatherings  in  keeping  with  the  place.  There  are  to- 
da}^  about  200  cottages  and  tents  there,  many  families 
finding  it  a  quiet,  wholesome  summer  resort  for  weeks  at 
a  time,  and  the  annual  religious  meetings  in  August  are 
largely  attended.  The  crowds  that  used  to  flock  to  Wil- 
limantic have  disappeared,  and  camp-meeting  is  orderly 
and  circumspect.  Many  distinguished  Methodist  preach- 
ers are  heard  at  the  grounds. 

The  Rev.  Father  H.  Brady,  then  resident  priest  at  Mid- 
dletown,  opened  the  first  Catholic  mission  in  Willimantic, 
in  Franklin  Hall  in  1848,  with  about  300  in  attendance. 
He  purchased  the  land  where  the  present  church  stands 
on  Jackson  street.  The  Rev.  Bernard  McCabe  of  Daniel- 
sonville,  had  charge  of  Willimantic  mission  until  1857. 
In  later  years  he  purchased  the  Baptist  building  and 
removed  it  to  the  site  of  the  present  church,  christening 
it  St.  Joseph's  Roman  Catholic  church.  The  Catholics, 
like  the  Baptists,  but  more  severely,  suffered  persecution 
in  their  early  da3-s  here.  One  Sunday  Father  McCabe 
found  Franklin  Hall  locked  against  him,    and    the    key 


56 

nowhere  to  be  found.  Nothing  daunted,  he  prompth'  led 
his  flock  to  the  then  lateh-purchased  lot  on  Jackson  street, 
and  there  under  God's  free  dome  he  erected  a  rough  altar, 
and  offered  up  the  adorable  sacrifice.  Another  time  he 
started  to  drive  to  Baltic,  when  suddenly  a  wheel  came 
off  and  he  was  thrown  violentl}"  to  the  ground.  Exami- 
tion  showed  that  some  scoundrel  had  removed  all  the 
nuts. 

Father  McCabe  died  in  i860,  and  was  succeeded  b}'  the 
Rev.  Hugh  J.  O'Reilh^  who  became  the  first  resident 
pastor.  In  1861  he  built  the  present  pastoral  residence 
and  also  purchased  the  land  for  a  Catholic  cemetery,  just 
be3'ond  the  Horse-shoe  bridge. 

The  Rev.  Daniel  Mullen  succeeded  Father  O'Reilly, 
and  after  four  years  was  succeeded  by  the  present  incum- 
bent, the  Rev.  Florimond  DeBruycker.  Father  De- 
Bruycker  had  under  his  charge  when  he  first  came  here 
missions  at  Stafford  Springs,  Bolton  and  Coventr}^ 

In  1864  he  purchased  the  new  Catholic  cemeter}-,  and 
in  1883  the  old  wooden  church,  (bought  of  the  Baptists) 
Avas  removed  to  Valley  street,  where  it  is  now  a  part  of 
the  parochial  school  property,  and  on  the  site  of  the  old 
church  he  erected  the  beautiful  structure  of  brick  and 
stone  at  a  cost  of  $80,000,  including  the  high  altar,  which 
was  brought  from  Munich.  The  corner  stone  was  laid 
August  17,  1875,  by  the  late  Bishop  McFarland,  his  last 
official  act.  November  17,  1874,  came  the  dedication  led 
by  the  Rev.  Bishop  McQuade  of  Rochester.  Our  Catholic 
population  is  from  3500  to  4000  including  about  1500  to 
1800  French  Canadians. 

St.  Paul's  Episcopal  Mission  at  Willimantic  was  organ- 
ized about  thirty  j^ears  ago  and  the  late  Dr.  Hallam  was 
placed  in  charge.  Meetings  were  long  held  in  the  upper 
hall  of  the  Commercial  block,  afterwards  in  Dunham  Hall. 
The  present  church  was  built  in  1883,  the  parsonage  in 
'87.  By  the  '91  report  258  persons  are  registered  parish- 
ioners and  84  communicants.  The  rectors  since  Dr. 
Hallam  are  Revs.  R.  K.  Ashley,  L.  H.  Wells,  R.  C.  Sear- 


57 

ing,  H.  B.  Jefferson,  George  Buck.  All  officiated  at 
Windham  also. 

A  Reform  church  was  organized  in  1881  in  connection 
with  the  Willimantic  Reform  Society  in  MivSsion  Hall,  with 
Elder  J.  L.  Barlow  as  pastor,  but  did  not  gain  permanent 
foot-hold,  and  was  disbanded  in  1885.  The  Reform  So- 
ciet}',  organized  in  1878,  has  since  held  weekly  meetings, 
with  the  temperance  question  the  chief  topic  of  discussion. 

Universalism  has  never  gained  a  permanent  foothold  in 
this  town.  About  1840,  a  flourishing  Universalist  society 
was  organized  in  Willimantic,  a  church  was  built  on 
"Exchange  Place,"  and  the  old  church  building  is  still 
standing,  as  a  tenement  house  with  basement  stores,  the 
third  building  east  of  Jackson  street  on  IVIain  street,  and 
owned  b}^  George  W.  Burnham.  Elder  Harry  Brown,  a 
seceder  from  the  Baptists,  was  a  leader  in  this  movement, 
and  Whiting  Hayden  was  the  financial  backer.  The 
society  flourished  for  a  time,  and  out  of  it  grew  the  present 
Spiritualist  Societ}^  The  latter  society  has  been  active 
in  Willimantic  for  about  thirty  years,  in  1868  completed 
its  church  on  Bank  street,  has  maintained  regularly  its 
"Progressive  Lyceum"  every  Sunday-,  and  the  church 
desk  has  been  occupied  b}'  different  speakers.  George 
W.  Burnham  has  been  the  leading  spirit  in  this  society, 
and  is  now  also  president  of  the  State  Spiritualist  Society. 

THE    RAILROADS. 

In  1849  the  railroads  came,  and  it  was  the  biggest  event 
of  all. 

Nothing  will  ever  equal  the  first  impression  made  by 
the  iron  horses.  We  have  had  since  then  the  telegraph, 
the  telephone  and  all  the  wonders  of  electricity,  but  they 
have  come  so  thick  and  fast  that  we  are  now  prepared  for 
anything,  and  surprised  at  nothing. 

The  railroad  had  long  been  heralded,  yet  it  was  to  most 
people  an  incomprehensible  thing  that  the  engine  should 
go    right    along    without    anybody    pushing    or    anything 


58 

drawing,  and  no  sign  of  a  motive  power  but  little  puffs  of 
smoke  and  steam. 

It  is  reported — but  I  have  not  been  able  to  fathom  its 
accuracy — that  one  good  old  lady  along  the  South  Wind- 
ham outskirts  stood  within  hailing  distance  of  the  track 
one  morning  soon  after  the  cars  appeared,  and  waved  her 
apron  so  frantically  that  the  engineer  stopped  and  asked  her 
what  the  matter  was.  She  inquired  if  they  took  "summer 
squashes." 

As  the  first  railroad  appeared  here  in  the  fall,  there  is 
an  apparent  anachronism  in  the  seasonableness  of  the 
squashes  if  not  of  the  story. 

The  great  "Air  I^ine"  was  the  first  to  be  talked  of  and 
the  last  to  be  built.  The  first  road  appearing  here  was 
the  New  London,  Willimantic  and  Palmer,  now  the  New 
London  Northern.  Th^  first  train  arrived  here  from  Nor- 
wich in  the  fall  of  1849,  with  an  engine  and  two  passen- 
ger cars.  It  stopped  down  back  of  John  Moulton's  house, 
and  passengers  were  transferred  by  teams  up  to  the  place 
opposite  Hardin  Fitch's  where  the  tracks  from  Palmer 
had  reached.  Large  crowds  were  gathered  at  both  points 
to  see  the  sight. 

It  was  several  weeks  later  before  the  tracks  were  con- 
nected, but  then  a  grand  free  excursion  was  given  from 
New  London  to  Palnier  and  a  large  number  of  people 
went  along.  General  L.  E.  Baldwin  among  them. 

The  Hartford,  Providence  and  Fishkill  road  came 
through  in  1-85-3.  John  F.  Lester,  the  first  station  agent, 
met  the  first  train  from  Hartford  up  near  the  Smithville 
Go's.,  before  the  depot  was  built,  and  is  said  to  have  sold 
the  first  tickets  while  standing  by  the  track  in  the  open 
air.  William  Storrs  of  Ashford,  and  before  this  date  one  of 
.the  teachers  in  the  old  stone  school  house,  and  to-day  a 
wealthy  director  in  the  Reading  Coal  Co.,  in  Scranton, 
Pa.,  became  the  agent  of  the  New  London  Northern 
road.  The  depot  was  built  in  1850,  and  did  passenger 
service  until  1880,  w^hen  the  present  structure  w^as  built 
wnth  the  daily  death  trap  of  four  tracks  before  it. 


59 

Nearly  twenty  years  later  the  long  agitated  Boston,  Hart- 
ford and  Erie  railroad,  now  main  line  of  the  New  England, 
was  completed  from  Boston  to  Willimantic,  and  in  1872. 
the  New  Haven,  Middletown  and  Willimantic,  (now  the 
Air  Line)  entered  the  town,  thus  completing  the  quar- 
tet of  railwa}^  outlets  to  all  important  points  which 
make  Willimantic  to-da}^  one  of  the  most  convenient  and 
accessible  raihvay  centers  in  the  countr}-. 

What  Willimantic  ought  to  have  is  a  handsome  new 
union  passenger  station,  and  I  believe  proper  effort  on 
the  part  of  the  citizens  could  induce  the  railroads  to  build 
it.  The  recent  move  of  the  Consolidated  road  makes  the 
time  opportune  for  united  action.  There  too,  on  that 
magnificent  location  in  front  of  the  Windham  Go's.,  is. 
just  the  place  for  the  union  station.  It  would  help  both 
the  town  and  the  railroads  in  every  way  to  build  it.  Such 
a  move  too,  would  give  a  fair  chance  for  the  prompt  and 
convenient  handling  of  freight  in  the  present  yard,  and 
thus  prove  a  great  help  to  our  mercantile  interests. 

The  coming  of  the  railroads  broke  up  not  onh^  the 
stage  coach  business,  but  also  the  great  teaming  industrj^ 
which  preceded  the  modern  freight  traffic.  The  teaming 
thoroughfares  from  Willimantic  led  to  Providence  and 
Norwich,  then  our  chief  sources  of  suppl}'.  The  Windham 
Company  had  a  six  horse  team ;  Henry  Brainard  and 
Grant  Swift  w^ere  for  many  3'ears  their  principal  teamsters 
to~Providence.  Charles  Huntington,  the  elder  Ephraim 
Herrick  and  Martin  Harris  were  among  the  teamsters  to 
Nonvich. 


WINDHAM'S    SCHOOLS. 

Windham  has  always  taken  a  good  degree  of  interest  in 
her  schools.  Early  in  her  second  century  she  had  a  good 
academy  at  the  Green,  and  thirteen  populous  districts  with 
well  kept  schools,  and  later,  about  1850,  Dr.  Jabez  Fitch 
maintained  a  very  creditable  academy  at  South  Windham, 
know^n  as  the  Grove  Seminary,  and  the  academy^  building 


60 

is  now  standing  on  the  hill  east  of  the  railwa}'  station  and 
in  the  rear  of  the  Warner  House,  being  sometimes  used 
for  public  gatherings.  Several  well-to-do  citizens  of  the 
borough  sent  children  to  school  there.  Dr.  Fitch  was  a 
very  strict  disciplinarian  and  demanded  thoroughness  of 
his  pupils.  An  unfortunate  occurrence  resulting  in  the 
death  of  a  young  man  whom  he  punished  brought  his 
labors  here  to  a  close.  He  afterwards  went  to  South  Nor- 
waik  and  there  built  up  a  private  school  of  considerable 
reputation,  some  Willimantic  boys  being  sent  there,  and 
he  conducted  it  until  his  death. 

The  first  public  school  house  built  in  the  borough  was 
in  the  Second  District,  and  stood  on  the  site  where  now 
stands  the  little  cottage  nearly  opposite  Charles  B.  Jor- 
dan's house  on  Pleasant  street.  Next  was  built  a  larger 
structure  located  on  the  north  side  of  the  river  almost 
midway  between  the  present  spool  shop  and  No.  i  mill. 
Then  a  two-story  wooden  structure  was  built  a  little 
west  of  what  is  now  the  Linen  Co.'s  dye  house;  and  in 
1 83 1,  near  this  same  site,  was  built  the  famous  "old  vStone 
school  house"  which  was  Willimantic's  chief  educational 
influence  for  nearly  a  generation,  and  is  treasured  in  fond 
memor}^  in  many  hearts  here  to-day  assembled,  and  in 
mau}^  more  that  are  widel}^  scattered.  Here  are  some  of 
the  sterling  minds  who  taught  Willimantic's  3'oung  ideas 
how  to  shoot  :  Roger  Southworth,  Samuel  L.  Hill,  Dr. 
Calvin  Bromle3^  Dr.  Eleazer  Bentle}^  Wm.  Kingsley, 
Robert  Stewart,  Leander  Richardson,  W^m.  L.  Weaver, 
Fred  F.  Barrows,  Henry  W.  Avery,  Harriet  Moulton, 
Martha  Chipman  and  Remus  Robinson.  The  advent  of 
the  Linen  Co.  displaced  this  historic  structure,  and  in 
1865  the  Second  District  took  up  its  quarters  in  the 
Natchaug  building  as  at  present. 

The  first  school  house  in  the  First  District  of  Williman- 
tic, stood  about  where  the  Windham  Co.'s  east  dwelling, 
house  is  on  West  Main  street.     This  was  a  small  building 
and  was  later  removed  to  the  lot  now  occupied  by  the  First 
District  buildings,  and  enlarged. 


61 

In  1847  the  central  and  oldest  Iniilding  of  the  present 
three  were  built,  and  this,  like  the  old  stone  school  house 
in  the  Second  District,  served  for  man}-  years  as  the  educa- 
tional center  of  that  part  of  the  town.  In  this  district 
taught  such  sturdy  pedagogues  as  John  G.  Clark,  Horace 
Hall,  Leonard  R.  Dunham,  Dr.  Wm.  A.  Bennett,  Wm. 
L.  Weaver,  Saxton  B.  Little,  E.  McCall  Cushman,  Jabez 
S.  Lathrop,  Perr}-  Bennett,  John  D.  Wheeler. 

For  manj^  3'ears  these  two  districts  were  rivals,  but  in 
1887  came  the  union  town  High  School,  then  in  1889 
the  State  Normal  Training  School,  with  its  model  advan- 
tages for  the  First  District  grades,  soon  to  be  enjoyed 
also  b}^  the  Second  District  grades. 

I  must  not  pass  over  the  private  High  School  main- 
tained b}^  David  P.  Corbin  in  Franklin  Hall  about  1862- 
'5.  It  was  a  school  of  high  character,  and  attracted  a 
large  number  of  3'oung  men  and  3'oung  women  from  this 
and  neighboring  towns.  Mr.  Corbin  followed  Mr.  Pow- 
ell who  was  first  principal  of  the  new  Natchaug  school, 
and  was  himself  succeeded  by  Thomas  Hart  Fuller, 
John  B.  Welch,  Wm.  L.  Burdick  and  George  A. 
Cadwell. 

In  the  First  District  the  principals  since  John  D. 
Wheeler  have  been  Wm.  A.  Holbrook,  Chas.  F.  Merrill, 
Chas.  F.  Webster,  Roderick  W.  Hine,  Frank  A.  Young 
and  F.  A.  Verplanck. 

Frank  H.  Beede  has  been  principal  of  the  High  School 
since  its  inception  in  1887. 

The  Catholic  parochial  school  was  established  in  1878, 
drawing  about  200  pupils  at  that  time  from  the  public 
schools,  chiefly  in  the  Second  District,  and  now  number- 
ing nearly  700  pupils,  drawn  from  the  families  gf  Irish 
and  French  extraction  in  all  parts  of  the  town. 

The  reason  for  the  establishment  of  parochial  schools, 
here  as  elsewhere,  was  the  absence  of  purely  religious  in- 
struction in  the  public  schools  and  the  belief  of  Catholics 
that  it  should  be  given  there. 

The  Protestants  were    thus  made  to  realize  also,  that  in 


62 

many   instances  too    much  of    a    Protestant  bias  had  been 
given  to  the  public  schools. 

At  the  present  time  there  is  a  tendency  toward  making 
the  parochial  schools  public.  It  is  not  generally  believed 
wise  to  grant  public  money  to  parochial  schools  while 
they  remain  such,  not  because  they  are  Catholic,  but  be- 
cause it  is  felt  to  be  unwise  to  maintain  separate  sectarian 
schools  of  any  sort  from  the  common  fund.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  patrons  of  the  parochial  schools,  many  of  them 
tax-payers  and  all  sharing  directly  or  indirectly  the  bur- 
dens of  the  town,  feel  that  they  bear  a  double  burden  for 
schools  when  paying  tuition  at  the  parochial  school.  The 
new  Faribault  plan  of  Archbishop  Ireland,  by  which  par- 
ochial schools  are  to  be  committed  under  Catholic  teach- 
ers to  public  charge  but  with  no  religious  instruction  save 
by  Catholic  missionaries  at  their  ow^n  expense  after  regu- 
lar school  hours,  may  prove  an  entering  wedge  for  an 
harmonious  settlement  of  the  w^hole  matter. 


WINDHAM    IN     WAR. 

The  war  of  1812  was  unpopular  in  Windham  as  among 
Federalists  generally  throughout  the  north,  but  quite  a 
number  of  3^oung  Windahmites  enlisted  nevertheless,  at- 
tracted by  love  of  adventure  and  good  pay. 

Windham  sailors  had  been  impressed  into  British  ser- 
vice. That  sturdy  little  coasting  frog,  "The  Windham," 
had  been  seized  and  confiscated,  and  these  incidents  gave 
the  town  a  special  interest  in  the  struggle.  Yet  the  Fed- 
eralist influence  was  so  strong  that  comparatively  few  en- 
listed at  the  beginning  of  the  war.  A  number  of  3^oung 
fellows  from  the  Center  and  from  Scotland  Parish  saw  a 
week's  delightful  service  in  "guarding"  New  London 
Harbor,  but  they  saw  no  fighting. 

Windham  was  well  represented  in  the  regular  army, 
however,  at  the  time  this  war  broke  out,  by  Major 
Charles  Larrabee,  Capt.  Adam  Larrabee  and  Col.  Stani- 
ford.     Of   the  last  named  I  can  learn  but  little,  save    that 


63 

he  was  a  young  and  popular  officer.  Major  Charles  Lar- 
rabee  was  a  Windham  boy,  but  had  been  on  the  western 
frontier  for  a  number  of  years.  He  served  under  Gen. 
Harrison,  whom  he  well  knew,  and  he  also  had  personal 
association  with  Gen.  Zachary  Taylor  and  Winfield  Scott. 
Capt.  Adam  Larrabee  was  a  grandson  of  Timothy  Larra- 
bee,  of  whom  we  have  already  heard.  He  was  born 
and  reared  in  I^edyard,  was  educated  at  West  Point, 
and  entered  the  regular  army.  At  the  battle  of 
French  Mills,  near  Plattsburg,  on  the  northern  fron- 
tier under  General  Wilkinson,  his  captain  was  dis- 
abled, and  young  Larrabee  was  placed  in  command, 
but  was  soon  severely  wounded,  shot  through  the 
lung.  He  was  carried  from  the  field  as  fatally  shot,  but 
he  rallied.  The  physician  who  examined  him  said,  "Well, 
Larrabee,  you're  a  queerly  made  fellow.  If  j^our  heart 
were  where  it  ought  to  be,  you'd  be  dead  by  this  time." 
"My  heart,  doctor,"  promptly  explained  the  gallant  young 
officer  with  a  significant  twinkle  in  his  eye,  "I  left  at  home 
in  Ledyard."  He  was  taken  to  the  home  of  the  late 
Reuben  H,  Walworth  (afterwards  State  Chancellor)  at 
Saratoga  and  while  recuperating  there  formed  a  life- 
long friendship  with  the  distinguished  New  Yorker.  At 
the  close  of  the  war,  young  Larrabee,  who  inherited  strong 
affection  for  home  and  family,  made  up  his  mind  that  the 
army  was  no  place  for  him,  so  he  threw  up  the  captain's 
commission  which  he  had  earned  by  brave  service,  return- 
ed home  and  claimed  the  hand  of  her  who  had  his  heart  in 
keeping  (Hannah  G.  Lester)  and  settled  down  to  farming 
in  old  Ledyard,  where  for  forty  years  his  farm  was  the 
model  of  thrift  and  intelligent  agriculture.  In  later  life  he 
removed  to  W^indham,  and  many  now  living  recall  him. 
His  sons,  Charles  and  Henry,  are  well  known  residents  of 
Windham. 

I  do  not  learn  that  Windham  was  especially  interested 
in  the  Mexican  war,  but  our  late  distinguished  citizen. 
Col.  Rufus  L.  Baker,  was  chief  of  ordinance  during  that 
struggle,  though  not  a  resident  of  Windham  until  after  that 


u 

date.  His  son  Chas.  L.  Baker,  who  lived  here,  was  later 
connected  with  the  regular  arm3\ 

Oh,  thOvSe  da3^s  of  '6i  !  How  little  we  to  whom  they  are 
history,  or  but  the  dimmest  memory,  can  realize  what  thej^ 
meant  to  j^ou  who  were  in  and  of  them  !  Windham  was 
alive  at  the  outset  to  the  country's  needs.  From  the  fall 
of  Richmond  she  took  keen  interest  in  the  struggle  and 
gave  freely  of  her  blood  and  her  substance  for  the  union. 
Lester  E.  Braley  was  the  first  to  enlist,  joining  the  first 
company  of  Connecticut  Volunteers,  and  he  afterwards 
helped  to  raise  and  became  captain  of  the  "L3'on  Guards", 
(Co.  G.  i2th  C.  V.) 

Other  well-known  Windham  boys  who  went  to  the  front 
were  Chas.  D.  Bowen,  (Capt.  Co.  H.  i8th  C.  V.)  Francis 
S.  Long,  first  lieutenant,  and  captain  of  Co.  D.  21st  C. 
v.,  who  fell  at  Petersburg  in  '64,  the  gallant  officer  for 
whom  our  local  G.  A.  R.  Post  is  named.  At  the  time 
he  was  killed  he  was  in  the  command  of  the  Brigade 
sharpshooters. 

Henry  E.  Taintor,  now  of  Hartford,  was  second  lieuten- 
ant Co.  H.  i8th  C.  v.;  Wm.  H.  Locke,  Sergeant  and 
second  lieutenant  i8th  C.  V;  the  patriotic  Riple}^  Broth- 
ers, four  of  them  in  the  service,  of  whom  Eleazer  H. 
became  captain  Co.  D.  8th  C.  V.,  came  back  with  an 
empt}^  sleeve  and  is  now  in  the  civil  service  at  Wash- 
ington; Andrew  Loomis,  lieutenant  Co.  H.  second  C.  V.; 
all  of  whom  went  out  from  Willimantic.  Samuel  J.  Miller 
went  to  Virginia  and  enlisted  there.  Joel  R.  Arnold  re- 
ceived commission  as  lieutenant  and  aide  on  the  colonel's 
staff  of  165th  N.  Y.  Lieutenant  Chas.  Wood,  a  popu- 
lar Willimantic  bo}^  was  killed  at  Petersburg  in  '64. 
Dr.  Lathrop  of  Windham  gave  his  life  for  the  bo3\s  in 
the  hospital  and  was  brought  to  the  historic  old  Wind- 
ham cemetery.  On  his  shaft  erected  by  the  8th  C.  V., 
are  the  words,  "Faithful  Unto  Death," 

In  all,  304  enlisted  from  Windham  during  the  war  in 
twentj^-two  different  regiments,  of  whom  fourteen  were 
killed,  twent3^-five    died,  thirty-nine    were   wounded  and 


65 

thirt3'-two,  alas,  deserted.  Benajali  E.  Smith,  now 
worthy  state  commander,  enlisted  from  Windsor  in  1862, 
and  Captain  Charles  Fenton,  now  of  General  Alger's 
staff,  and  Captain  Jerome  B.  Baldwin,  went  out  from 
Mansfield. 

John  Bolles,  the  veteran  letter  carrier,  whose  stirring 
drum  beats  have  inspired  many  a  loyal  heart,  went  out 
from  old  Ashford,  and  James  Haggerty  of  the  present 
Court  of  Burgesses,  was  one  of  the  youngest,  if  not  act- 
ually the  3^oungest,  to  enlist  from  Connecticut.  He  went 
out  from  Willimantic  in  Co.  H,  i8th  C.  V.,  Jan.  5,  1863, 
being  then  thirteen  j^ears,  one  month  and  eleven  days  old. 

Many  things  happened  to  bring  the  people  of  Windham 
into  close  touch  with  the  war.  Troops  passed  through 
here  frequently  by  rail,  and  the  battalions  of  General 
Burnside  and  Governor  Sprague  of  Rhode  Island  aroused 
special  interest.  General  Wool,  one  of  the  veterans  of  the 
Mexican  campaign,  also  passed  through  here. 

But  the  event  which  brought  the  realization  of  the  war 
to  Windham  County  and  all  her  towns  was  the  death  and 
funeral  of  our  owm  beloved  General  Nathaniel  Lyon,  who 
fell  in  that  gallant  charge  at  Wilson's  Creek,  Aug.  loth, 
1861,  at  the  very  outset  of  the  struggle.  The  body  was 
brought  to  his  old  home  in  Eastford,  and  with  its  distin- 
guished escort,  and  greeted  wath  signs  of  sincere  popular 
mourning  in  its  long  journey  from  Missouri,  reached  Wil- 
limantic on  the  morning  of  Wednesday,  Sept.  4th,  by 
special  train.  Thousands  of  people  had  come  together 
from  miles  around,  the  procession  w^as  formed  and  moved 
to  the  outskirts,  w^here  carriages  were  in  waiting.  Sam- 
uel J.  Miller  and  John  Henney  tolled  the  Methodist  bell 
as  the  solemn  train  moved  to  the  north. 

The  next  day  came  the  funeral  at  Eastford,  business 
w^as  generally  suspended,  and  Willimantic,  like  all  the 
surrounding  towns,  was  fairly  deserted,  so  many  attended. 
It  was  a  deeply  impressive  occasion,  and  aroused  a  pro- 
foundly patriotic  spirit  throughout  the  whole  region. 
I  well  remember   the  closing  days    of   the   w^ar.     First 


6Q 

came  the  joj'ous  news  of  the  fall  of  Richmond,  when  bells 
rang  and  cannons  boomed.  Young  and  old  displa5'ed  the 
national  colors.  My  own  special  delight  was  in  a  tiny 
flag  worn  proudly  in  the  hat  or  carried  running  in  the 
breeze — we  little  folks  had  them,  we  knew  not  really  why, 
but  we  knew  and  felt  that  some  great  joy  was  at  hand. 

Then  came  the  sudden  plunging  into  deepest  grief,  our 
little  flags  were  trimmed  with  crepe,  and  the  church  bells 
tolled,  and  solemn  services  were  held,  men  and  women 
wept  like  children.  The  great  grief  hangs  even  now  like 
a  heav}^  pall  over  my  childhood's  memor}^,  though  I  knew 
not  what  it  meant.  They  said  the  President  was  dead, 
shot  b}^  the  hand  of  a  traitor,  a  martyr  to  the  cause  of  lib- 
erty' and  the  Union. 

I  remember,  too,  when  the  "boys  in  blue"  came  march- 
ing home — bo3\s  in  faded  blue,  with  garments  war-worn, 
flags  tattered  and  faces  haggard.  I  can  see  them  now,  as 
though  it  were  but  yesterday,  standing  there  on  Union 
Street,  in  front  of  the  Baptist  Church,  where  we  children 
attended  lovely  Rose  Dimock's  private  school  in  the  ves- 
try, and  though  the  spectacle  w^as  to  our  childish  minds 
simply  one  of  awe  and  wonder,  we  felt  that  somehow 
those  men  had  suffered.  Another  memor}-,  quite  as  vivid, 
is  that  some  of  the  soldiers  in  mock  menace  "charged 
bayonets"  upon  our  ranks,  and  we  fled  in  terror  to  the 
protection  of  "teacher." 

NORTH  AND  SOUTH  WINDHAM. 

By  the  kindness  of  Mr.  P.  H.  Woodward,  a  native  of 
Franklin,  son  of  the  late  Ashbel  Woodward,  M.  D.  and  who 
is  now  secretary  of  the  Hartford  Board  of  Trade  and  an 
active  member  of  the  Connecticut  Historical  Society,  I 
am  able  to  present  the  following  facts  concerning  the  man- 
ufacturing settlements  at  North  Windham  and  South 
Windham.  Much  of  the  material,  which  was  gleaned 
from  original  sources  b}^  Mr.  Woodward,  is  now  for  the 
first  time  published. 


67 

North  Windham, — About  the  year  1810,  the  firm  of 
Taintor,  Abbe  &  Badger  (John  Taintor,  Charles  Taintor, 
George  Abbe  and  Edmund  Badger)  built  a  paper  mill  at 
North  Windham,  then  known  as  "New  Boston."  Prev- 
iousl}^  the  water  power  at  this  place  had  been  utilized 
only  for  driving  a  saw  mill.  They  made  writing  paper  of 
three  grades  respectively,  No.  i,  No.  2  and  No.  3.  The 
texture  was  firm  and  strong,  but  the  finish  inferior.  The 
Taintor  Brothers  and  George  Abbe  were  merchants  of 
Windham  Center.  To  a  large  extent  help  was  paid  and 
stock  purchased  through  orders  on  neighboring  traders, 
who  in  this  way  bartered  for  the  products  of  the  mill, 
money  playing  a  small  part  comparatively  in  effecting  the 
exchanges. 

After  a  few  years  of  doubtful  success  the  other  partners 
prudently  retired,  leaving  Badger  alone  in  nominal  owner- 
ship. About  the  year  1825  he  failed,  when  the  property 
practicall}^  reverted  to  the  Taintors,  b}^  virtue  of  claims 
upon  it. 

For  a  short  period  after  the  withdrawal  of  Badger,  a 
new  firm,  Foster  &  Post,  ran  the  mill,  but  from  lack  of 
capital  or  encouragement,  soon  abandoned  the  business. 

Meanwhile,  one  Pickering,  an  Englishman,  had  shipped 
to  this  countr}'  a  Fourdrinier  machine,  the  first  imported 
in  America.  It  was  sent  from  London  by  way  of  Ger- 
man}^ on  account  of  certain  duty  regulations.  On  the 
passage  hither  the  owner  entrusted  the  care  of  the  machine 
to  two  fellow  countrj-men  of  his,  coming  himself  by  an- 
other vessel  direct.  On  the  vo^-age  a  severe  epidemic 
broke  out,  so  prostrating  both  passengers  and  crew,  that 
the  craft  was  with  difficult}^  brought  into  port.  Pickering 
attributed  the  preserv- ation  of  his  life  to  the  fidelit}^  of  his 
serv^ant,  John  Carter,  an  Irishman,  one  of  a  very  few  that 
escaped  the  disease. 

He  soon  formed  a  partnership  with  Mr.  Frost,  a  Boston 
bookseller,  under  the  name  of  Frost  &  Pickering.  In 
seeking  a  location  they  finally  selected  North  Windham. 
The  old  mill  had  become  dilapidated,  but  was  in  the  mar- 


68 

ket  at  low  figures,  and  this  was  probabl}^  the  inducement 
which  determined  their  choice. 

The  new  firm  took  possession  in  1827.  The  structure 
was  in  a  great  measure  rebuilt,  under  the  supervision  of 
George  Spafford  of  South  Windham,  an  experienced  mill 
wright. 

Notwithstanding  the  superiority  of  the  new  machine, 
misfortunes  continued  to  pursue  the  enterprise.  Picker- 
ing is  represented  as  a  dashing  man,  more  devoted  to 
jolly  companionship  than  to  work.  A  similar  disposition 
prevailed  among  the  employees.  As  a  set  they  were  in- 
temperate and  consequent!}^  indifferent.  The  inevitable 
catastrophe  in  due  time  followed,  bankruptcy  again  stop- 
ping the  wheels  in  1829. 

Grant  &  Daniels,  Boston  creditors  of  Frost  &  Pickering, 
then  operated  the  mill  for  about  two  years,  but  managed 
its  affairs  at  arms'  length,  with  unsatisfactory  results. 

In  1 83 1  the  property  was  sold  to  Justin  Swift,  Charles 
Taintor  having  foreclosed  the  mortgage  which  he  had  held 
from  the  time  when  it  passed  into  the  hands  of  Edmund 
Badger.  Mr.  Swift  converted  the  concern  into  a  cotton 
mill,  and  supervised  the  business  personally  till  i860.  At 
his  advent  the  train  of  disasters  that  had  for  twenty  years 
involved  successive  operators  in  trouble,  happily  came  to 
an  end.  Applying  to  the  work,  industry,  capacity  and  in- 
tegrity he  succeeded  in  making  money  where  others  had 
failed. 

The  mill  was  burned  in  1837  and  again  in  i860,  and  in 
I  both  instances  rebuilt.  T^e  second  rebuilding  was  in 
1862,  and  it  was  then  leased  to  Merrick  Bros,  for  thread 
making.  In  1872  it  was  bought  by  B.  H.  Hall  &  Son. 
E.  H.  Hall  died  in  1884,  and  the  son,  E.  H.  Hall,  Jr., 
buying  out  the  heirs,  has  since  continued  the  business 
under  the  old  firm  name.  Forty  hands  are  now  employed 
in  the  manufacture  of  cotton  yarns,  the  finished  product 
amounting  to  3000  pounds  per  week,  making  a  yearly 
product  of  about  $40,000  value. 

At  the  instance  of  Mr.  Pickering,   Mr.   Stowell  Lincoln 


69 

who  owned  a  fulling  mill  at  North  Windham,  began  about 
the  3^ear  1827  to  make  the  felts  that  were  required  in 
operating  the  Fourdrinier.  After  the  general  introduction 
of  this  machine  he  continued  to  make  them  for  the  trade 
till  1857,  when  the  appliances  of  the  business  were  sold 
and  transferred  to  South  Windham.  The  factor}-  is  now 
unused  and  going  to  decay. 

South  Windham. — South  Windham  has  earned  a  notable 
place  in  the  history  of  manufactures.  Its  water  power  is 
derived  from  a  stream  draining  "Pigeon  Swamp,"  a 
w-atershed  of  perhaps  four  .square  miles  on  the  eastern  bor- 
ders of  Lebanon.  The  fall  is  quite  remarkable,  being  over 
150  feet  from  the  upper  reser\-oir  now  in  use,  to  the  place 
where  it  empties  into  the  Shetucket. 

Aside  from  a  sawmill  higher  up,  the  power  w^as  first 
used  for  driving  a  fulling  mill,  located  on  the  present  site 
of  the  w^orks  of  Smith,  Winchester  &  Co.  Cloth  woven 
on  hand  looms  was  brought  to  this  establishment  not  only 
from  the  neighborhood,  but  from  places  twenty  or  thirty 
miles  distant,  to  be  dressed,  finished  and  dyed.  During 
the  last  war  with  Great  Britain  the  army  cloth  turned  out 
here  won  a  high  reputation  for  the  excellence  of  its  indigo 
blue.  From  the  hands  of  Joshua  Smith  the  mill  passed 
into  the  ownership  of  Geo.  Spafford,  and  was  demolished 
in  1829. 

In  the  year  1800,  Amos  Denison  Allen  established  the 
cabinet  business  at  the  old  homestead  near  South  Wind- 
ham, where  he  continued  to  carry  it  on  for  about  a  third 
of  a  century.  He  was  an  excellent  w^orkman  and  very 
thorough.  The  products  of  his  shop  were  distributed  ex- 
tensively through  Eastern  Connecticut  and  portions  of 
Massachusetts.  Many  old  fashioned  long  clock  cases  were 
made  here  for  the  southern  market.  At  different  periods 
from  six  to  fourteen  hands  w^ere  employed. 

Many  pieces,  embracing  articles  of  rare  and  curious  de- 
sign, that  have  been  in  constant  use  from  half  to  three 
fourths  of  a  century,  are  still  to  be  found  in  the  neighbor- 
hood  in    excellent   preser\-ation.     Chairs   that   have    de- 


70 

scended  in  the  cour.se  of  two  generations  from  the  parlor 
to  the  kitchen,  as  firm  in  every  joint  as  when  they  left  the 
maker,  are  still  triumphantly  exhibited  in  proof  of  the 
superiority  of  the  old  regimen  in  cabinet  making  to  the 
new.  Mr.  Allen  was  born  March  13,  1774  and  died 
August  19,  1855. 

Mr.  Joseph  Pickering  imported  the  first  "Fourdrinier" 
ever  landed  in  the  United  States  and  located  at  North 
Windham  in  1827.  George  Spafford  of  South  Windham, 
a  skillful  mill-wright,  was  employed  to  rebuild  the  mill, 
which  had  fallen  into  decay,  and  to  adapt  it  to  the  uses 
now  required.  While  thus  engaged  he  became  impressed 
with  the  merits  of  the  "Fourdrinier"  and  foresaw  the  rev- 
olution it  was  destined  to  accomplish.  All  paper  pre- 
viously manufactured  in  the  United  States  had  either  been 
made  by  hand,  or  on  the  primitive  cjdinder  machine,  the 
product  of  which  was  much  inferior  to  the  hand-made. 

The  theor}^  of  making  paper  in  a  continuous  web  was 
first  wrought  out  in  1779,  by  Louis  Robert,  a  common 
workman  of  Ensonne,  France.  The  Fourdrinier  Broth- 
ers, (Henry  and  LealjO  wealthy  booksellers  of  London, 
purchased  the  patent  right  for  Great  Britain  in  1804. 
They  not  only  improved  the  invention  greatly,  but  also 
brought  its  utilities  into  general  notice.  It  has  since 
borne  their  name,  and  notwithstanding  the  w^onderful  de- 
velopment of  mechanical  ingenuity  since  their  time,  still 
remains  the  standard  machine  for  the  manufacture  of  all 
the  finer  grades  of  paper.  In  its  modern  completeness  it 
is  justly  regarded  as  one  of  the  greatest  achievements  of 
human  contrivance. 

Although  it  soon  became  apparent  that  from  extrinsic 
causes  the  enterprise  of  Pickeriiig  w^as  doomed  to  failure, 
Mr.  Spafford,  convinced  that  the  Fourdrinier  was  destined 
to  supersede  the  clumsy  devices  then  in  use,  determined 
to  begin  the  manufacture  of  them.  Having  at  different 
places  been  brought  into  relations  with  Mr.  James  Phelps, 
a  mechanic  of  wide  experience  in  building  paper  mills, 
the  two  men  formed  a  partnership  for  the  purpose. 


71 

On  the  8th  of  January  1829,  Charles  Smith,  sou  of 
Joshua,  then  a  youth  of  21,  went  to  Stafford  (New  Fur- 
nace) now  Staffordville,  to  take  charge  of  the  business. 
Having  supervised  the  building  operations  at  North 
Windham  he  had  become  familiar  with  the  mechanism  of 
the  Fourdrinier.  Stafford  was  selected  because  a  foundry 
was  already  established  there  where  the  castings  could  be 
made.  The  work  was  carried  on  in  a  loft,  and  ample  pre- 
cautions taken  to  protect  the  secrets  of  the  undertaking 
from  the  knowledge  of  the  public.  Of  course  curiosity 
w^as  rife  and  some  laughable  explanations  were  given  to 
place  it  on  an  innocent  scent. 

The  first  Fourdrinier  made  on  this  continent  was  duly 
completed  and  sold  to  Amos  H.  Hubbard  of  Norwich,  by 
whom  it  was  put  in  operation  in  Ma}^  1829,  at  "The 
Falls."  A  second  quickh^  followed  and  was  purchased 
by  Henry  Hudson  of  East  Hartford.  Both  yielded  such 
excellent  results  that  the  projectors  were  encouraged  to 
make  preparations  for  the  continuance  of  the  business. 
Accordingly  having  removed  their  tools  and  a  third 
Fourdrinier  from  Stafford,  they  broke  ground  for  a  shop 
on  the  site  of  the  old  fulling  mill  at  South  Windham, 
Nov.  30,  1829.  The  building  was  read}'  for  occupancy  in 
Februar}^    1830. 

The}^  were  the  pioneers  not  only  in  building  the  Fourd- 
riniers,  but  also  in  man}- other  cardinal  improvements.  In 
1 83 1  the  first  dr\'ers  produced  in  this  country  were  made 
in  this  shop.  Hitherto  each  American  paper  mill  was 
provided  with  an  airy  loft  wherein  the  fresh  sheets  were 
suspended  by  hand  till  their  moisture  evaporated.  By 
means  of  the  dryers  the  same  result  was  accomplished 
automaticall}',  thus  effecting  a  great  saving  both  in  space 
and  labor.  Soon  after  Mr.  George  Spafford  invented  the 
cutter  for  dividing  the  continuous  w^eb  into  sheets  of  uniform 
size,  a  contrivance  hardly  inferior  to  the  dryers  in  its 
economic  bearings. 

Phelps  &  Spafford  built  numerous  paper  mills  for  cus- 
tomers  in  different  states  and  supplied  them  with  machin- 


72 

ery.  The  country  was  then  comparatively  poor,  each 
Fourdrinier  costl}',  and  bad  debts  numerous.  As  the  hard 
times  of  1837,  so  painfully  noted  in  our  annals  for  finan- 
cial disasters,  approached,  the  strain  upon  the  resources 
of  the  firm  became  too  severe  to  be  successfully  withstood. 
The  partners  sold  their  interest  to  Charles  Smith  and 
Harvey  Winchester,  both  brothers-in-law  of  George  Spaf- 
ford.  In  1838  the  new  organization  was  completed  under 
the  name  of  Smith,  Winchester  &  Co.,  the  name  which  it 
still  bears,  Mr.  Smith  taking  the  general  management. 

By  the  death  of  his  father  Mr.  Smith  was  left  an  orphan 
at  the  age  of  thirteen,  when  the  duties  cares  and  responsi- 
bilities of  manhood  at  once  devolved  upon  him.  Before 
attaining  his  majority  he  directed  the  operatix)ns  of  large 
gangs  of  men,  proving  equal  to  every  task  as  it  came. 
Uniting  rare  executive  ability  to  mechanical  talent  both 
natural  and  cultivated  of  a  high  order,  he  started  the  con- 
cern upon  a  career  of  prosperity  which  it  has  since  pur- 
sued undeviatingh^  through  all  the  ups  and  downs  of  the 
general  business  of  the  country.  It  has  been  a  funda- 
mental rule  of  the  establishment  to  knowingly  permit  none 
but  first  class  work  to  leave  its  doors,  while  the  integrity 
of  its  dealings  has  won  the  confidence  of  its  patrons. 

Since  1838  the  works  have  been  several  times  enlarged, 
and  commodious  out  buildings  for  storing  lumber,  pat- 
terns, etc.,  erected.  Above  the  "fulling  mill  pond"  two 
large  reservoirs  have  been  built,  the  last  150  feet  above 
the  bed  of  the  Shetucket  and  flowing  over  35  acres,  hav- 
ing been  begun  in  the  autumn  of  1877.  Aside  from  sup- 
plies for  the  home  market,  machinery  has  been  made  here 
on  orders  from  Canada,  Cuba,  Mexico,  England  and 
other  foreign  countries.  At  present  the  works  have  a 
capacity  for  the  employment  of  about  one  hundred  hands. 
In  the  quality  of  its  productions  the  firm  has  always 
aimed  at  durability,  strength  and  efficiency. 

South  Windham  is  also  entitled  to  the  credit  of  revolu- 
tionizing the  cutting  of  wood  type  and  multipljdng  many 
fold  the   demand   for   these  useful   articles   by   increased 


73 

cheapness  and  excellence.  Until  Mr.  Edwin  Allen  entered 
the  field,  wood  type  had  been  cut  exclusively  by  hand  and 
w^as  so  inferior  in  design  and  finish  that  even  in  the  large 
sizes  metal  was  generally  preferred.  Edwin  Allen,  son  of 
Amos  D.,  was  born  March  27,  181 1.  Having  served  an 
apprenticeship  in  his  father's  shop  where  he  introduced 
several  valuable  inventions  of  his  own,  he  moved  to  Nor- 
wich in  1835,  to  assist  an  elder  brother  in  cabinet-making. 
The  following  year  the  factory  w^as  burned.  While  out 
of  employment  he  strolled  into  the  printing  office  of  the 
Norwich  "Courier,"  when  he  became  suddenly  interested 
in  a  font  of  wood  type.  Having  made  numerous  inquiries 
in  reference  to  their  cost,  utility,  manufacture  and  other 
cognate  points,  he  left  for  home  inspired  with  the  belief 
that  machiner}^  could  be  devised  for  making  them. 
Although  in  delicate  health  he  devoted  his  entire  energies 
to  the  evolution  of  the  idea  that  had  seized  him.  The 
thought  triumphed.  In  the  short  period  of  three  days  it 
had  become  embodied  in  wood  and  iron,  for  in  that  brief 
interval  a  small  machine  had  been  contrived  w^hich  pro- 
duced specimens  far  superior  to  any  ever  exhibited  before. 
He  returned  to  South  Windham^  to  begin  the  cutting  of 
wood  tj^pe  for  the  general  market. 

In  the  spring  of  1837  he  visited  New  York  Cit}^  where 
he  entered  into  an  arrangement  with  Mr.  George  F,  Nes- 
bitt  who  undertook  to  introduce  the  article  to  the  trade  of 
the  country.  It  was  brought  out  as  "Nesbitt's  wood 
type,"  and  was  thus  known  for  years. 

Mr.  Allen  was  able  not  onh^  to  devise  and  make  the 
machiner}^  even  to  the  tempering  of  the  steel  cutting 
apparatus  so  that  it  would  take  the  most  exquisite  edge 
needful  for  the  purpose,  but  also  to  draft  the  letters  of  the 
w^hole  alphabet  to  correspond  with  any  specimen  that 
might  accompan}^  an  order.  Many  of  his  designs  won 
great  admiration  as  specimens  of  art. 

The  first  effect  of  the  invention  was  to  drive  inferior 
products  out  of  the  business,  and  to  stimulate  the  rest  to 
higher  excellence.     Prior  to   1837   a   large   proportion  of 


74 

wood  type  were  cut  on  the  side  of  the  grain  for  the  reavSon 
that  the  blocks  were  more  easily  chiseled  on  tiie  side  than 
on  the  end.  Letters  thus  formed,  however,  left  a  poor, 
imperfect  impression  in  printing  and  deteriorated  rapidly 
with  use.  The  leading  firm  then  in  the  trade  was  Lev- 
ingworth  &  Wells  of  New  York  cit}^  Their  choicer 
grades,  though  cut  on  the  end  and  recognized  as  the  best 
in  the  market,  made  but  a  poor  exhibit  beside  the  deep, 
sharp,  smooth  and  true  lines  of  the  machine  made  work. 
It  was  not  long  before  the  competition  of  the  old  methods 
came  to  an  end,  leaving  Mr.  Allen  in  undisputed  pos- 
ssession  of  the  field. 

A  second  effect  was  the  complete  supersedure  of  large 
metal  type,  tons  of  which  were  now  melted  down  and  cast 
into  small  type,  since  their  new  rivals  of  wood  w^ere  lighter, 
better,  more  durable,  much  less  expensive,  and  not  liable 
to  be  injured  or  to  cause  injury  when  falling  or  when 
pied. 

It  is  a  notable  fact  that  the  essential  principle  of  the 
machine,  born  in  the  brain  of  the  inventor  during  those 
three  da^^s  of  intense  thought,  though  now  in  world-wide 
use,  has  never  been  altered  or  improved. 

The  one  first  constructed  was  run  b}^  foot.  As  the  bus- 
iness increased  a  shop  was  fitted  up  for  Mr  Allen  in  an 
outbuilding  of  Smith,  Winchester  &  Co.,  power  being 
conve3"ed  across  the  highway  b}"  an  underground  shaft. 
A  steam  mill  was  subsequently  built  at  the  old  home- 
stead, which  in  1852  or  1853  was  moved  to  the  stream. 

While  at  South  Windham,  Mr.  Allen  invented  and 
manufactured  in  large  quantities  the  "Educational 
Tables,"  which  combining  instruction  with  amusement, 
once  enjoyed  wide  popularity.  In  1852  he  sold  his  fac- 
tory and  fixtures  at  South  Windham  to  Mr.  John  G. 
Coole}^,  w^ho  after  a  year  or  two  transferred  the  business 
to  New  York  city.  Other  inventions  of  Mr.  Allen  have 
been  numerous  and  some  of  them  very  valuable. 

Guilford  Smith  (son  of  Charles  and  grandson  of  Joshua) 
purchased  the   property   in   1863  and  still   owns    it.     He 


75 

made  woolen  felts  till  the  disproportionate  rise  of  tlie  raw 
material  during  the  war  gave  foreign  a  great  advantage 
over  home  manufactures.  He  is  now  the  active  manager 
of  the  works  of  Smith,  Winchester  &  Co. 

Several  journe3'-man  wood  t3'pe  cutters  leased  the  prem- 
ises in  1878,  and  under  the  name  of  "The  American 
Wood  Type  Co."  re-established  the  business  for  which 
the  mill  was  originally  built.  The  quality  of  their  work 
is  said  to  be  unsurpassed  either  in  this  country  or  abroad. 

About  the  3'ear  1837  a  grist  mill  was  built  at  the  lower 
end  of  the  village  by  Elisha  Holmes.  Since  1850,  thous- 
ands of  tons  of  g3'psum,  imported  b}-  the  ship  load  from 
Nova  Scotia,  have  been  ground  here  and  distributed  over 
an  extensive  region  to  fertilize  the  soil. 

In  the  3'ear  1871  a  brick  mill  driven  b}^  steam,  was  built 
near  the  depot  of  the  New  London  &  Northern  railwa}-, 
by  "The  Adams  Nickel  Plating  and  Manufacturing  Co," 
the  president  of  the  company  being  the  inventor  of  the 
process.  After  the  expiration  of  the  patent  the  property 
was  bought  by  a  coal  compan}-  and  is  now  used  for  the 
manufacture  of  buffing  wheels. 

WILLIMANTIC  MANUFACTURES. 

The  second  era  of  manufactures  in  Willimantic  began 
with  the  advent  of  the  Willimantic  Linen  Company.  It  is 
a  familiar  story,  oft  recorded,  and  I  need  not  dwell  upon 
it.  The  company  was  organized  in  1854,  "to  manufacture 
flax  or  cotton  into  yarn  or  cloth."  They  occupied  the  old 
Jillson  Mill  (now  the  spool  shop)  the  Jillsons  having 
failed  to  establish  their  manufactures  permanently,  and 
the  Linen  Company  first  manufactured  fine  and  coarse 
towels  or  crash,  also  fish  lines. 

The  Crimean  war  of  1853-6  deprived  them  of  flax,  and 
they  were  compelled  to  abandon  the  linen  enterprise  ;  but 
under  the  same  name  they  promptly  turned  their  attention 
to  spool  cotton.  Spool  cotton  was  at  that  time  all  im- 
ported, and  only  black   and  white  thread  was  wound  on 


76 

spools,  the  colored  varieties  being  sent  over  in  skeins. 
The  little  penny  skeins  of  colored  thread  will  be  recalled 
by  many.  The  company  first  made  up  a  lot  of  colored 
threads  wound  on  spools,  of  quality  much  inferior  to  the 
present  make  and  even  to  the  goods  the}^  imported,  but 
brightly  glazed,  and  put  them  on  the  market.  The  bright 
colors  and  the  novelt}^  and  pride  of  home  manufacture 
caught  the  public  eye,  and  gave  the  new  industry  a  good 
start.  In  1857  the  mill  now  known  as  No.  i  was  built. 
Then  came  on  the  civil  war.  Dunham  and  Ives  were 
shrewd  enough  to  buy  up  large  quantities  of  cotton  before 
the  rise,  and  they  became  ver>^  wealthy.  The  capital 
thus  acquired  was  turned  to  good  account  in  beginning 
the  development  of  a  great  plant. 

In  1864,  they  purchased  the  tract  now  covered  by  mill 
No.  2  and  its  adjuncts  ;  and  the  "old  stone  school  house," 
the  blacksmith  shop,  and  the  grist  mill  of  earliCvSt  Willi- 
mantic  gave  way  to  progress. 

The  whole  section  round  about  was  revolutionized, 
the  "New  Village,"  or  large  group  of  tast}^  tenement 
houses  opposite  the  mills  was  built,  and  a  new  era  dawned 
for  Willimantic. 

The  "new  mill"  was  the  wonder  of  modern  Windham, 
marking  the  advent  of  our  greatest  industry,  and  the 
forerunner  of  growth  to  a  large  town.  In  1876,  the  old 
Jillson  and  Capen  Mill  (now  No.  3)  was  acquired  by  pur- 
chase, and  filled  up  with  new  machinery.  Feb.  28,  1880, 
the  building  of  No.  4  mill  was  authorized  by  vote  of  the 
directors.  The  next  day,  March  ist,  the  workmen  were 
cutting  away  trees  and  digging  for  the  foundations.  The 
pines  then  growing  in  the  Florida  forests  were  speedily 
selected  for  the  lumber  of  the  mill,  and  so  rapidly  was  the 
great  structure  pushed  that  on  the  first  day  of  October 
following  it  began  turning  out  products.  This  feat  was 
characteristic  of  the  company's  enterprise.  "The  Oaks" 
settlement  of  cottages  was  built  to  accompany  this  mill. 

The  development  of  this  company  has  materially  af- 
fected the  whole  process  of  thread  manufacture,  by  means 


77 

of  the  improvements  which  its  enterprise  stimulated.  Two 
notable  inventions,  the  winding  and  ticketing  machines, 
which  act  with  almost  voluntary  power,  were  generally 
adopted  by  other  thread  companies  which  paid  royalties 
to  the  Willimantic  company  until  other  improvem^ents 
were  introduced. 

The  Willimantic  Company  claims  to  make  the  best 
thread  in  the  world,  has  sustained  the  claim  by  winning 
the  first  medals  at  the  Philadelphia  and  Atlanta  Exposi- 
tions, and  looks  confidently  forward  to  beating  the  world 
again  at  Chicago  in  1893.  Latterly  other  branches  of. 
manufacture  have  been  introduced  by  this  company, 
notably  the  lisle  thread  industry,  which  has  been  quite  a 
feature  for  six  months  past,  but  was  a  sort  of  temporary 
"fad,"  and  is  now  giving  way  to  the  manufacture  of  cer- 
tain varieties  of  fancy  yarns. 

The  employees  now  number  about  2000,  and  the  total 
yearly  product  is  about  fifteen  millions  of  miles  of  threads 
and  yarns. 

Old  Windham  has  a  tradition  of  the  revolutionary  war, 
telling  how  Hettie's  pet  black  cosset  Dido  was  shorn  of 
wool  one  morning,  to  make  a  suit  of  linsey-woolsey  for 
Hettie's  soldier  brother,  who  was  to  leave  next  morning 
early  to  rejoin  his  company  on  the  memorable  march-  of 
the  winter  of  '7 7- '78,  from  Rhode  Island  to  New  Jersey  ; 
and  that  the  next  morning  after  the  wool  was  shorn,  the 
proud  young  patriot  was  wearing  his  new  suit,  not  24 
hours  from  Dido's  back,  so  deftly  had  the  hands  of  Hettie 
and  the  willing  neighbors  wrought. 

Modern  Windham  has  a  story  to  match  it, '  true  beyond 
question.  At  the  Atlanta  Exposition  of  1880,  at  the  in- 
stance of  our  Linen  Company,  cotton  growing  in  the  boll 
in  the  fields  in  the  morning,  was  picked,  ginned,  carded, 
spun,  woven  and  dyed,  and  by  the  close  of  the  same  day 
was  sewed  by  Willimantic  thread  and  lined  with  Cheney 
silk,  into  two  dress  suits  which  were  worn  by  the  govern- 
or of  the  state  and  by  Edward  Atkinson,  the  distinguished 
economist,  at  a  public  reception  that  evening.     The  enter- 


78 

prise  showu   and  the  fame  won  at   Atlanta  developed   a 
large  southern  trade  for  the  company,  which  it  still  enjo3^s. 

Next  in  importance  to  its  cotton  thread  industry  stands 
the  silk  industry  of  Willimantic,  now  fast  assuming  rank 
with  the  foremost. 

After  Col.  Elderkin's  death  in  old  Windham,  his  silk 
industry  passed  into  the  hands  of  parties  in  Mansfield, 
the  pioneer  town  of  silk,  and  it  is  a  curious  coincidence 
that  the  leading  silk  manufactory  of  later  Mansfield 
should  have  drifted  again  to  Windham,  in  the  Williman- 
tic field.  I  refer  to  the  O.  S.  Chaffee  company,  which 
was  organized  in  Mansfield  as  early  as  1838,  became 
O.  S.  Chaffee  &  Son  in  1867,  established  itself  in  the  old 
Paisley  mill  corner  Church  and  Vallej^  Streets  in  Willi- 
mantic in  1874,  organized  as  the  Natchaug  Silk  Com- 
pany Dec.  5th  1887,  with  $25,000  capital,  increased  to 
$200,000  Aug.  27th,  1888,  and  is  now  located  in  the  hand- 
some new  building  on  North  Street,  manufacturing 
braids,  linings,  dress  silks,  w^atch  guards,  eye  glass  cords 
and  fish  lines,  which  are  sold  all  over  the  country;  and 
employing  about  225  hands.  Sewing  silks  are  still  made 
at  the  old  mills  in  Mansfield,  but  the  new  plant  at  Willi- 
mantic has  far  outgrown  the  old. 

The  first  silk  industry  to  locate  in  Willimantic,  how- 
ever, was  that  of  the  Holland  Manufacturing  Company, 
which  was  started  in  1866  by  J.  H.  and  G.  Holland, 
brothers  of  Dr.  J.  G.  Holland  of  literary  fame.  They 
built  the  two  brick  mills  now  on  the  opposite  corners 
of  Church  and  Valley  Streets.  J.  H.  Holland  built  for 
his  home  the  brick  house  on  Maple  Avenue  now  occu- 
pied by  the  Misses  Brainard,  and  Goodrich  Holland 
erected  the  residence  at  the  corner  of  Church  and 
Spring  Streets  now  owned  and  occasionall}"  occupied  by 
his  widow,  Mrs.  Jane  Holland.  J.  H.  Holland  died  in 
1868,  and  Goodrich  in  1870,  and  since  that  time  the 
business  has  been  conducted  under  the  old  firm  name, 
with  Samuel  L.  Burlingham  as  resident  agent.  The 
manufactures  of    these   mills  are  machine  twist,  button- 


79 

hole  twist  and  sewing  silk.       The}'  employ   150    hands 
Mr.   Goodrich  Holland  was  the  inventor  of  the  machine 
for  stretching  silk  now  in    universal  use    among  manu- 
facturers of  twist  and  sewings. 

The  latest  accession  to  the  silk  industries  of  Willi- 
mantic  is  Arthur  G.  Turner's  four  story  brick  spinning 
mill  on  Bank  street.  This  industry  was  started  in 
1886,  and  entered  its  present  mill  in  1889,  and  during 
the  past  3'ear  has  paid  out  over  $25,000  in  wages  to 
about  100  hands.  The  business  is  that  of  spinning  silk 
yarns,  which  are  shipped  for  use  in  the  manufacture  of 
all  kinds  of  silk  fabrics,  for  sewing  machines  and  for 
fringes. 

One  of  the  largest  and  most  important  industries  of 
AVillimantic  to-da}',  employing  about  sixty  skilled  me- 
chanics, is  the  W.  G.  &  A.  R.  Morrison  Machine  Co., 
manufacturers  of  silk  machinery.  This  compan}-  has 
grown  out  of  a  little  machine  shop  started  by  Walter  and 
Henry  Morrison  in  1875,  and  was  organized  as  a  joint 
stock  company  in  1882.  They  now  occupy  the  wooden 
building  at  the  corner  of  North  and  Valley  streets,  and 
the  lower  floor  of  the  Natchaug  silk  mill.  They  manu- 
facture machinerj^  for  making  silk  twist  complete,  from 
the  stock  as  imported  to  the  finished  spool — also  machin- 
ery for  making  organzine  and  tram,  which  constitute  the 
warp  and  woof  of  silk  dress  goods  ;  also  machiner}'  for 
putting  the  gloss  on  cotton  thread  and  winding  it  on 
spools.  The  business  is  not  covered  by  patents,  but  has 
onh'  two  or  three  competitors  in  this  country,  as  it  calls 
for  special  machinerj^,  which  is  all  designed  by  Mr.  W.  G. 
Morrison.  The  sales  for  the  past  3'ear  exceeded  $100,000 
in  value,  and  were  shipped  from  Maine  to  California. 

Among  the  other  industries  of  modern  Willimantic,  the 
old  Windham  Cotton  Company  is  still  doing  business  at 
the  old  stand,  which  it  has  occupied  since  1823.  The 
present  product  is  both  wide  and  narrow  goods  in  cottons, 
and  includes  sateens,  twills,  sheetings  and  print  cloths. 
The  plant  has  been  enlarged,  and  improved  in  many  ways 


80 

within  the  past  few  years  the  mills  have  been  thoroughh- 
renovated  and  repaired,  and  nearl}"  all  the  machinery,  in- 
cluding water  wheels,  engine  and  boilers,  of  new  and  mod- 
ern tj^pe,  so  that  hardly  anything  remains  of  the  original 
mills,  save  the  familiar  walls  and  roof.  About  300  hands 
are  employed.  A  number  of  small,  but  important  inven- 
tions, now  in  universal  use,  have  been  invented  at  this 
mill. 

The  Smithville  Company  has  had  a  rather  checkered 
existence.  There  have  been  long  interv^als  of  idleness 
there.  At  the  present  time  a  Providence  Company  are 
employing  about  300  hands  there,  making  twills  and  print 
cloths,  and  turning  out  a  yearly  product  of  3,000,000 
yards. 

These  comprise  the  leading  manufactures  of  the  Willi- 
mantic  of  to-day,  besides  which  there  are  planers'  and 
builders'  mills,  blind  factories,  several  large  lumber  yards, 
and  a  host  of  business  houses  for  all  sorts  of  domestic 
supplies. 

An  Electric  Light  Compau}^  lights  the  streets  and  has 
applied  for  a  street  railway  charter.  A  complete  sj^stem 
of  public  water  works,  established  in  1885,  has  already 
become  practically  self-sustaining,  and  its  power  may 
some  day  be  utilized  for  the  generation  of  electricity  lor 
lights  and  motive  power,  including  a  street  railway.  Wil- 
limantic  expects  to  become  a  citjMu  December,  1893. 

WINDHAM  IN  REFORMS. 

The  interest  of  Windham  in  the  Abolition  agitation  was 
intense,  and  one  typical  reminiscence  is  at  hand.  During 
President  William  Henry  Harrison's  administration  1840- 
44,  Aaron  Phelps  attempted  to  give  a  course  of  three 
anti-slavery  lectures  in  the  old  Methodist  church  on  the 
site  of  the  present  Atwood  Block,  and  when  the  Rev. 
Moses  White  was  pastor.  The  first  lecture  passed  off 
quietly.  The  second  night  a  mob  gathered,  but  spent 
their  wrath  on  the  church  after  the   meeting  was  over,  by 


81 

breaking  windows,  etc.  The  third  night  their  propor- 
tions had  grown  to  a  well-organized  mob,  and  as  I  am 
informed,  they  gathered  at  the  Congregationalist  chnrch, 
and  when  the  speaker  was  w^ell  under  way,  marched 
under  the  lead  of  Charles  Schofield  to  the  M.  E.  church. 
There  Schofield  approached  the  desk  with  followers,  pre- 
sumabl}^  to  drag  the  speaker  out,  when  young  Orrin  Rob- 
inson, tall  and  strong,  interfered,  and  taking  Schofield 
by  the  arm,  quickly  marched  him  back  again  through 
the  crowd  and  into  the  street  before  the  astonished  mob 
had  time  to  collect  its  wits  sufficiently  to  know  what  was 
the  matter.  But  the  reaction  soon  came,  and  serious 
trouble  was  imminent.  Edward  Clark  of  Windham  Green 
read  the  riot  act,  Robinson  was  arrested,  tried  and  sen- 
tenced to  a  term  in  Brooklyn  jail.  Constable  William  H. 
Hosmer  set  out  for  Brooklyn  with  his  prisoner,  but  finding 
he  had  forgotten  necessary  papers  he  requested  young 
Robinson  to  walk  on  alone  while  he  returned  for  the  papers. 
Robinson  trudged  cheerily  along,  and  when  asked  by  one 
whom  he  met  where  he  was  going,  promptly  replied  "to 
Brooklyn  jail."  He  was  soon  overtaken  by  the  constable 
and  placed  in  durance  vile.  To  return  to  the  meeting 
which  the  mob  had  broken  up,  it  is  gratifying  to  add  that 
Aunt  'Rushy  Robinson  cheated  them  of  their  victim,  the 
speaker,  by  dressing  him  in  her  cloak  and  taking  him  to 
her  home.  Some  of  the  leading  citizens  of  the  town  took 
part  in  the  mob.  We  are  all  quick  now  to  condemn  the 
bigotry  of  those  old  days.  It  is  always  the  bigotry  and 
intolerance  of  the  present  that  we  need  to  guard  against. 
Windham  has  never  been  a  strong  temperance  town. 
From  the  days  of  Windham  flip  and  West  India  wet  goods, 
when  "Bacchus"  sat  aloft  as  the  type  of  the  tavern's  hos- 
pitality, dowm  through  the  "Sodom"  of  early  Willimantic, 
the  orgies  at  the  Hebard  tavern,  the  killing  of  Calvin 
Robinson  by  a  drunken  driver,  and  the  stabbing  of  the 
Corcoran  boy  at  Mrs.  Daley's,  the  pages  of  our  history 
have  been  often  blotted  with  the  blood  of  the  victims  of 
alcohol.     All  along  the  years  I  find  record  of  the  wreck  of 


82 

some  of  the  brightest  minds  in  the  community,  because  of 
the  social  popularity  of  drinking.  The  Washingtonian 
movement  swept  the  town  like  wild-fire,  as  it  did  else- 
where, and  wrought  much  good  among  individuals.  The 
brilliant  but  unfortunate  George  S.  Catlin,  led  in  another 
temperance  reform  movement  which  profoundly  stirred  the 
people  but  did  not  exert  a  lasting  influence.  The  Maine 
law  had  its  day  and  for  a  time  was  very  effective,  but 
people  expected  too  much  of  the  law,  and  too  little  of 
themselves.  Along  in  the  '70s  came  the  famous  Good 
Samaritan  movement,  and  moral  enthusiasm  ran  high  for 
a  time  with  good  effect.  The  great  incentive  force  to  in- 
temperance in  later  days,  has  been  the  pernicious  license 
system,  introduced  to  restrict  the  evil,  but  proving  instead 
a  bulwark  and  a  fostering  influence.  We  are  seeing  a 
new  light  in  this  reform,  shining  from  out  the  new  scien- 
tific truths  about  alcohol.  The  intelligent  man  of  to-day 
who* will  permit  himself  to  recognize  this  truth,  refuses  to 
drink  because  he  knows  better  than  to  cripple  his  physical 
and  mental  powers.  In  the  public  schools  w^e  teach  the 
children  these  new  truths,  and  in  the  family.  Bui  for 
some  reason  we  have  persisted  in  keeping  the  authority 
and  influence  of  government  against  scientific  truth  and 
social  aspiration.  During  the  past  year  we  of  Windham 
have  made  an  attempt  to  place  government  in  harmony 
with  what  we  know  our  best  interest  as  a  community  de- 
mands. Some  ground  has  been  gained,  but  a  firmer  effort 
is  needed.  It  is  a  mistake  to  license  or  tolerate  public 
vices  in  any  form. 

OLD   WINDHAM  OF  TO-DA  V. 

The  coming  of  railways  robbed  Windham  Green  of  the 
last  of  her  ancient  glories — the  stage  coach  and  the  pros- 
perous tavern.  The  town  clerk's  office  and  probate  records 
and  the  polling  place  were  removed  to  Willimantic  about 
1862.  The  establishment  of  Willimantic  Savings  Insti- 
tute in  1842  had  brought  into  the  field  a  formidable  rival 
to  the   old  Windham  Bank,  which  since  its  establishment 


83 

in  1832,  had  been  the  financial  centre  of  the  town.  It 
was  a  novel  thing  for  the  people  to  have  money.  Common 
trade  theretofore  had  been  mostly  in  barter.  Windham 
bank  notes  were  a  curiosity,  and  the  $2  bills  with  their 
photographs  of  Col.  Dyer  and  Col.  Klderkin  at  either  end, 
and  the  picture  of  fighting  frogs  in  the  centre,  were  the 
town's  pride. 

In  1854  the  Windham  Bank  had  been  robbed  of  $7,000 
in  specie,  and  $15,000  in  securities,  the  cashier,  James 
Parsons,  being  bound  and  gagged.  The  watch  dog  was 
killed.  Parsons  quickly  recovered  himself  and  gave  the 
alarm.  The  robbers  then  took  a  hand  car  at  what  is  now 
Camp  crossing,  went  to  Norwich  and  hid  in  the  woods  on 
the  Preston  side.  They  were  captured  on  a  steamer  when 
leaving  Allyn's  Point  and  most  of  the  money  was  recovered. 
The  robbers  were  sent  to  Wethersfield.  The  affair 
caused  the  biggest  scare  in  Windham  since  the  Frog  fright. 
In  1879,  the  old  bank  yielded  to  the  popular  pressure 
and  was  removed  to  Willimantic,  where  to-daj^  it  takes 
rank  as  a  leading  financial  institution.  Other  banks  have 
been  organized  in  Willimantic,  the  Merchants'  Loan  and 
Trust  in  1870,  the  Dime  Savings  Bank  in  1872,  the  First 
National  in  1878. 

The  Windham  Centre  of  to-day  remains  a  residence  dis- 
trict, with  not  a  few  of  her  honorable  old  families  remain- 
ing. In  recent  3'ears  she  has  caught  a  new"  life  from  the 
receding  tide  of  the  congested  cities,  and  to-daj^the  Green 
is  growing  in  popularity  as  a  summer  resort,  offering  de- 
lightful opportunities  for  health  and  recreation.  Hand- 
some new  trees,  set  by  forethoughtful  citizens  a  score  of 
years  ago,  to  succeed  the  ancient  elms,  have  now  grown 
to  handsome  proportions.  The  crumbling  relics  of  ancient 
industries  have  been  cleared  away  and  modern  Windham 
Green  has  donned  a  dress  becoming  to  her  new  destiny. 
There  is  beginning  a  wholesome  movement  from  the  city 
to  the  town.  We  are  learning  that  this  huddling  of  people 
into  cities  is  a  mistake,  and  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  in  the 
near  future  the  land   may  be   more  evenly  populated   and 


84 

more    intelligent!}^  used.       In  such    a  development,   Old 
Winciham  will  share  as  well  as  the  New. 

LANDMARKS  IN  WILLIMANTIC. 

There  are  at  least  five  dwelling  houses  now  standing  in 
Willimantic  borough  which  date  back  into  the  centur}^ 
preceding  this.  Two  of  them,  the  Hardin  Fitch  place  at 
the  west  end,  the  old  Josiah  Dean  (now  called  Cranston's) 
place  at  the  east  end  on  South  Main  street,  are  rivals  for 
the  claim  of  the  oldest  house  in  town,  and  date  back  at 
least  two  centuries.  *  The  other  three  are  the  Alfred 
Youngs  (now  Charles  Young)  place  at  the  corner  of 
South  and  Pleasant  streets,  the  Waldo  Cary  (late  John 
Smith's)  place  on  Ash  street  bj^the  North  Windham  road, 
and  the  Scott  Smith  place,  corner  of  Brook  and  Main 
streets. 

There  is  a  noteworthy  absence  of  business  houses  that 
have  preserved  their  identity  from  the  earliest  days. 
There  is  no  firm  name  in  the  borough  now  that  was  here 
in  the  beginning,  except  that  of  the  Windham  Manufac- 
turing Compan3^  Frank  Wilson's  drug  store  has  been 
at  the  same  stand  since  started  in  1828,  but  with  chang- 
ing names.  Thomas  R.  Congdon  is  the  man  who  has 
been  longest  in  business  and  is  in  actual  trade  to-day, 
with  the  Carpenter  Bros,  of  West  Main  street  as  close  fol- 
lowers. J.  C.  Bassett,  John  G.  Keigwin,  Turner  and 
Wilson  have  long  records  but  they  have  retired. 

The  most  striking  figure  of  the  older  parts  of  the  town 
is  the  venerable  Charles  Smith  of  South  Windham,  a 
pioneer  in  the  great  industry  of  Smith,  Winchester  and 
Co.,  and  now  in  his  80th  year.  He  is  yet  in  active  busi- 
ness, and  keeps  in  line  with  current  events.  He  has  been 
a  man  of  marvelous  energy,  indomitable  will,  unflinching 
courage,  sterling  integrity  and  strong  public  spirit.  His 
heart  was  shown  in  the  small-pox  scourge  of  1874,  when 
he  fearlessly  helped  his  suffering  neighbors  and  saw  that 
Willimantic  was  protected. 

The  most  interesting  figure   on   Willimantic   streets  is 


85 

General  Lloyd  E.  Baldwin,  now  in  his  82nd  year.  Born 
in  Norwich  in  1810,  he  removed  to  Mansfield,,  and*  as  a 
boy  he  learned  the  builders  trade  in  Willimantic,  working 
on  the  Windham  Co.'s  "new  mill"  in  1828  and  '29.  In 
1 83 1  he  set  up  in  business  for  himself  in  Willimantic,  and 
became  the  leading  builder  of  early  Willimantic.  Among 
the  buildings  put  up  by  him  were  the  old  franklin  Hall. 
Willimantic's  first  public  building;  also  Joshua  Lord's, 
Dr.  Witter's,  Elisha  Williams's  and  Col.  William  L.  Jill- 
son's  residences;  the  Linen  Co.'s  No.  3  mill,  the  Smith- 
ville  Co.'s  mill  and  three  of  their  large  dwelling  houses, 
and  a  large  share  of  the  dwelling  houses  that  stood  in 
Willimantic  in  1850.  He  also  built  churches  at  Daniel- 
sonville,  Bozrah,  Westchester,  West  Granby,  Haddam, 
West  Sufiield,  South  Coventry  and  the  old  Broadway 
church  in  Norwich,  also  the  first  railway  stations  at  An- 
dover,  Bolton,  Vernon  and  Manchester;  the  first  district 
school-house,  center  building  of  the  present  group.  No 
man  had  more  to  do  with  the  building  of  earl}-  Williman- 
tic. He  was  postmaster  here  in  1843,  and  took  the  re- 
sponsibility of  moving  the  office  uptown.  He  was  a  prom- 
inent figure  in  the  old  State  Militia,  and  in  politics  in  the 
'40  s  and  '50s.  He  was  colonel  of  the  Fifth  regiment  and 
at  one  time  general  of  the  Fifth  brigade,  comprising  the 
militia  of  Windham,  Tolland  and  part  of  New  London- 
counties.  He  was  candidate  for  state  comptroller  for 
three  3'ears,  and  member  of  the  McClellan  convention  of 
'64,  and  candidate  for  presidential  elector  on  the  Seymour 
ticket  of  '68.  He  once  serv^ed  as  escort  for  Andrew  Jack- 
son, marching  across  Norwich  by  his  side,  and  he  has  re- 
mained to  this  da}^  a  staunch  Democrat  of  the  Jacksonian 
order,  whom  modern  degeneracies  cannot  swer\^e  from 
the  strong  faith  of  the  fathers.  He  retains  remarkable 
vigor  and  memory,  and  is  daily  seen  on  our  streets,  taking 
a  lively  interest  in  affairs. 

Ex-Postmaster  John  Brown,  long  known  as  the  "Re- 
publican War-horse,"  is  another  familiar  figure.  A  ster- 
ling old  patriot,  his  stirring  words  were  wont  to  rouse   the 


86 

highest  enthusiasm  at  public  gatherings.  He  was  a 
favorite  moderator  at  town  meetings  for  many  years.  For 
thirty-one  3^ears  he  has  been  connected  with  the  post 
ofhce,  twelve  years  as  Postmaster,  and  he  still  serves  the 
public  there. 

One  of  the  most  significant  and  valuable  of  modern 
landmarks  is  the  handsome  iron  fence  that  surrounds  the 
Willimantic  cemetery,  the  loving  gift  of  George  H.  Chase 
of  Stamford  to  the  town  that  gave  him  birth,  and  in  mem- 
ory of  his  boyhood  da3^s  at  the  old  Laban  Chase  home- 
stead. The  vSpirit  that  prompted  such  a  substantial  gift 
was  noble,  and  Windham  owes  him  a  lasting  debt  of  grat- 
itude. 

I  have  discovered  one  instance  of  the  continuance  of  the 
same  occupation  from  generation  to  generation,  in  the 
same  family,  which  is  quite  noteworthy  and  perhaps  not 
parelleled  in  the  town.  In  the  early  '30  s  William  Tew,  a 
venerable  blacksmith,  came  from  Rhode  Island  to  Willi- 
mantic and  occupied  the  large  white  house  now  standing 
on  the  southeast  corner  of  Hooper's  Lane  (Winter  street.) 
The  old  gentleman  did  not  engage  in  blacksmithing  here, 
but  his  son  William  did.  William's  son  John  is  now  the 
veteran  blacksmith  of  the  Willimantic  of  to-day,  and 
John's  son  James  is  following  the  same  honorable  trade 
on  Bank  street.  Robert  Brown  tells  me  that  he  has  had 
horses  shod  by  three  generations  of  Tews,  and  hale  and 
hearty  at  70  he  is  waiting  for  a  son  of  James  to  grow  up 
and  give  him  a  fourth  generation's  shoeing.  But  Jim's 
only  boy  is  thus  far  a  girl,  and  Mr.  Brown  is  getting  a 
little  discouraged.  I  have  learned,  however,  that  there  is 
a  woman  in  Worcester  who  shoes  horses,  and  as  women 
have  already  entered  4000  different  occupations,  horse- 
shoeing ma}^  become  as  popular  as  t3"pe- writing,  so  that 
Mr.  Brown  must  be  patient  and  meanwhile  Jim  may  be 
blessed  with  a  boy! 

WILLIMANTIC  NEWSPAPERS. 

The  Windham  "Herald"  flourishing  in  Old  Windham 
a  century  ago,  fell  into  decline  witli  the  disintegration  of 


87 

the  old  town,  and  in  1820,  Henry  Webb  began  to  publish 
in  Brooklyn  "The  Independent  Observer  and  County  Ad- 
vertiser. ' '  It  was  a  larger  paper  than  '  'The  Herald, ' '  and 
was  of  course  now  published  at  the  county  seat.  So  "The 
Herald"  succumbed.  Later  the  Saturday  "Transcript" 
of  Killingly  issued  a  Willimantic  edition,  and  was  finally 
established  at  Willimantic  by  John  Collins,  who  carried  it 
on  until  John  Evans  came  here  from  Plattsburg,  N.  Y., 
with  his  brothers  Charles  and  Edward,  and  bought  "The 
Transcript,"  and  established  in  its  stead  "The  Public 
Medium,"  copies  of  which  are  still  in  existence,  the  head- 
line bearing  pictures  of  earl}-  Willimantic.  "The  Public 
Medium"  was  published  every  Saturday  except  when 
there  were  53  weeks  in  the  3'ear,  but  suspended  every  53rd 
week,  we  are  told. 

John  Evans  sold  out  to  C.  S.  Simpson,  a  printer,  who 
changed  the  name  to  Willimantic  "Journal."  Simpson 
did  not  succeed,  however,  and  "The  Journal"  was  sus- 
pended for  a  short  time  in  1861.  Finall}'  Evans  took  it 
back,  and  with  William  L.  Weaver  renewed  its  publica- 
tion. Mr.  Weaver  built  the  paper  to  a  high  grade  of 
character  and  influence,  and  made  it  distinguished  by  the 
historical  and  genealogical  sketches  which  he  published. 
He  put  into  pamphlet  form  a  portion  of  his  genealogical 
researches  and  left  many  valuable  documents  which  his 
son,  Thomas  Snell  Weaver,  by  strange  and  happy  fate, 
occupying  to-day  the  same  editorial  chair,  is  making  most 
admirable  use  of,  to  great  public  advantage.  On  Mr. 
Weaver's  death  in  1866,  "The  Journal"  passed  succes- 
sively to  Asa  Curtis,  Walt  Pierson  and  W.J.  Barber  and 
in  187 1  the  late  Henry  L.  Hall,  son  of  Horace,  and  brother 
of  Judge  John  M.  Hall,  became  the  editor,  and  continued 
for  many  yesLVS.  His  natural  adaptation  for  the  work  was 
unsurpassed.  He  was  Willimantic  born  and  bred,  his 
mind  w^as  keen,  witty  and  appreciative,  he  was  a  natural 
orator  of  marked  powder,  and  a  genial  soul  withal,  and  his 
career  as  editor  of  "The  Journal,"  which  he  made  one  of 
the  best  weekly  papers  in  the  state,  will  be  long  remem- 


88 

bered.  He  died  in  1887.  Arthur  I.  Bill,  who  had  entered 
the  office  as  printer's  "devil,"  grew  to  be  the  chief  busi- 
ness life  of  the  concern,  and  in  1884  The  Hall  &  Bill  Print- 
ing Company  started  on  a  prosperous  career,  as  chief 
printers  to  the  Linen  Company  and  general  jobbers. 
Frank  E.  Beach  became  editor  of  "The  Journal,"  but 
bought  the  Southbridge  "Journal,"  and  then  came 
Thomas  Snell  Weaver,  who  needs  no  introduction  to  the 
community. 

The  Willimantic  weekly  "Enterprise"  was  started  in 
1877,  by  N.  W.  Leavitt  of  Scotland  with  Fayette  Saf- 
ford  as  assistant.  In  1879,  John  A.  McDonald  of  Daniel- 
sonville,  who  had  been  in  their  emplo}^  as  a  printer,  joined 
a  partnership  with  Mr.  Safford  and,  as  McDonald  &  Saf- 
ford,  they  have  since  conducted  the  Willimantic 
"Chronicle,"  which  has  grown  to  be  a  permanent  feature 
of  the  town. 

"The  Connecticut  Home,"  State  Temperance  news- 
paper and  advocate  of  the  Prohibition  party,  was  started 
here  in  1886  by  Allen  B.  Lincoln  ;  was  in  1890  removed 
to  Hartford  and  now  by  combination  with  the  Worcester 
"Times,"  has  become  "The  New  England  Home." 

Daily  papers  are  numerous  in  Willimantic.  W.  C. 
Crandall  started  the  Willimantic  daily  "Record"  in  1881, 
but  it  was  short  lived. 

The  Willimantic  daily  "News"  lived  a  few  months  in 
1887  with  J.  H,  Foster  of  Middletown  as  editor,  and  then 
expired.  F.  H.  Alford  of  the  Middletown  "Herald"  be- 
gan the  publication  of  the  Willimantic  "Herald"  in  1891, 
and  "The  Chronicle"  soon  followed  with  a  daih^  edition. 
Both  are  now  running,  and  are  creditable  local  dailies, 
but  the  field  seems  hardly  large  enough  for  two,  if  for  one, 
and  the  outcome  is  problematical. 

NO  TES  OF  IN TEREST. 

An  index  of  the  growth  of  land  values  in  later  Willi- 
mantic may  be  seen  in  the   fact  that  what  was   known   as 


89 

the  Johnson  Park  property,  including  not  only  the  square 
between  North,  Meadow,  Bank  and  Valley  streets,  but 
the  lot  where  A.  G.  Turner's  silk  mill  now  stands,  and 
.the  land  under  the  row  of  tenements  on  the  South  side  of 
Meadow  street,  was  all  sold  in  1863  for  $1300.  Recent 
sales  from  the  same  property  show  the  market  value  of  the 
same  land  to-daj-  to  be  not  less  than  $40,000. 

The  life  of  Dr.  William  Witter,  first  resident  physician 
of  Willimantic,  and  who  lived  in  what  is  still  known  as 
the  Witter  house,  on  the  east  side  of  High  street,  corner 
of  Main,  was  shortened  by  accident.  When  crossing  the 
old  bridge  near  the  Stutely  Sweet  place  in  Coventry  one 
day,  the  doctor's  horse  shied  at  a  big  stone  in  the  road, 
and  backed  off  into  the  river  bed,  gig,  horse  and  man. 
Dr.  Witter  was  seriously  injured  about  the  back. 

He  sued  the  town  of  Coventry  and  got  a  verdict  for 
$1400.  He  always  suffered  from  internal  injuries  after 
that,  and  though  before  the  accident  he  bade  fair  to  ex- 
ceed fourscore  and  ten,  he  died  at  44.  Dr.  Witter  was 
called  one  of  the  best  surgeons  of  his  day  east  of  the  Con- 
necticut River.  When  he  first  started  here  he  charged 
his  patients  twenty-five  cents  a  visit. 

The  Windham  Center  of  about  1 790-1 820  was  a 
great  place  for  law  students.  Judge  Hove}'  studied  there. 
Judge  Swift  wrote  his  famous  "Digest"  there. 

During  the  War  of  1812,  Charles  Taintor,  general 
tradesman  at  the  Green,  bought  large  quantities  of  provis- 
ions for  the  government  to  suppl}'  the  soldiers,  and  this 
gave  the  Windham  farmers  quite  a  boom. 

Warren  iVtwood  bought  the  old  Stanniford  Inn,  took  it 
down  and  used  it  in  some  of  his  buildings  in  Willimantic, 
but  I  do  not  learn  where. 

William  C.  Cargell  of  Willimantic  has  in  his  possession 
a  pig-weed  cane  which  was  growing  in  the  sod  by  the  old 
M.  E.  church  where  ground  was  broken  for  the  Atwood 
Block.     It  is  a  curiosity. 

James  Walden  was  the  first  Adams  Express  Agent  here 
in  1855  and  used  to  carry  most  of  the  packages  to  the  de- 


90 

pot  in  his  arms,  or  with  a  wheel-barrow.  Now,  teams  are 
run,  six  men  are  employed  all  the  time,  and  the  gross 
receipts  for  the  business  average  $125  a  day. 

One  of  the  most  active  and  energetic  of  Willimantic 
pioneers  was  Daniel  Sessions  who  lived  about  two  miles 
west  of  the  village  on  the  Coventrj^  turnpike.  Almost  all 
the  brick  used  in  the  late  '20s  and  early  '30s  were  made 
by  him. 

Young  people  wdll  be  interested  to  know  that  seventy- 
five  3^ears  ago  it  was  necessary  for  the  young  men  and 
maidens  who  became  engaged  to  have  their  bans  pub- 
lished from  the  pulpit  before  they  could  be  united  in  the 
holy  estate  of  matrimony.  It  was  generally  done  the  Sun- 
day before  the  great  event. 

Windham  had  some  old  slaves  who  were  familiar  figures 
down  to  1840  or  later.  "Old  Prime  Dyer"  has  been  im- 
mortalized with  the  frogs  in  Leavitt's  operetta.  There 
were  also  his  sister  "Cindy,"  another  veteran  negress 
called  "Case  Knife,"  and  "Old  Cruse  White,"  who  used 
to  bleach  hats  and  bonnets  for  the  ladies.  "Pete  Smith" 
was  another  familiar  figure.  There  were  a  score  or  more 
in  town  who  remained  here  until  death,  employed  in  vari- 
ous capacities  chiefly  as  field  hands  or  domestics.  Slavery 
was  finally  abolished  in  Connecticut  in   1848. 

'-'^^  A  noteworthy  attempt  was  made  to  start  a  shoe  indus- 
try at  Windham  Center  about  forty  jQars  ago.  Captain 
Justin  Swift  was  President,  and  the  capital  subscribed 
was  $10,000.  The  old  shop,  still  standing  next  below  the 
Parsons  house,  was  built  for  the  purpose,  and  about  twen- 

.^_ty  hands  were  employed.  Shoes  were  made  and  shipped 
to  New  York.  Ten  per  cent  dividends  were  soon  declared 
and  all  went  swimmingly  for  a  time,  but  hard  times  came, 
extended  credit  was  given  to  the  New  York  commission 
house  which  sold  the  goods,  and  ere  long  the  company 
awakened  to  the  fact  that  most  of  its  capital  was  in  New 
York.  Negotiations  followed  and  the  settlement  was 
such  that  the  industry  was  abandoned. 

Windham  has  had  three  Congressmen  under  the  new 


91 

constitution:  John  Baldwin,  1825-29,  George  S.  Catlin, 
'43-45  and  Alfred  A.  Burnham,  '59-63.  Baldwin  was  a 
Federalist  of  liberal  tendencies  ;  Catlin  a  Democrat  of 
brilliant  qualities  who  committed  political  suicide  by  vot- 
ing for  the  admission  of  Texas ;  and  Burnham  a  loyal 
Republican  of  w^ar  times,  a  gentleman  of  high  moral 
character  and  marked  ability,  who  also  served  as  lieuten- 
ant-governor. 

Henry  Hall,  brother  of  Horace,  was  first  postmaster  of 
Willimantic,  establishing  the  office  here  in  1827.  Ashe 
was  clerk  at  the  Windham  Co.'s  store,  he  located  the 
office  at  the  Hebard  tavern,  in  charge  of  a  deputy. 
George  W.  Hebard  succeeded  him  and  located  the  office 
at  the  Jillson  stone  store,  opposite  what  is  now  the  spool 
shop.  Then  came  Col.  Roswell  Moulton  w^ho  took  it  down 
to  a  building  near  by  Edward  F.  Casey'spresent  furniture 
store.  In  1843  Gen.  Iv.  E.  Baldwin  became  postmaster, 
and  was  audacious  enough  to  locate  the  office  uptown  in 
a  small  building  opposite  Niles  Potter's  hotel  (now 
Young's).  Then  came  successively  Joshua  B.  Lord  in 
the  Hanover  Block,  William  L.  Weaver  at  his  store  in 
Franklin  building,  James  H.  Work  in  the  Twin  buildings, 
Thomas  Campbell  in  the  Boon  (now  Card)  block,  then 
William  H.  Hosmer  in  the  same  place. 

In  1861  James  Walden  was  appointed  and  he  held  the 
office  for  eight  3^ears,  locating  it  in  his  block  on  Main 
street,  where  now  A.  B.  Williams's  dry  goods  store  is. 
John  Brown  followed  for  twelve  3^ears,  then  James  Walden 
another  term,  then  Henry  N.  Wales,  and  the  present  in- 
cumbent, Charles  N.  Daniels.  The  post  office  was  re- 
moved by  Postmaster  Daniels  in  1890  to  the  new  Loomer 
block  on  North  street,  just  back  of  the  opera  house.  Mr. 
Brown  remains  as  clerk,  and  has  serv^ed  in  the  office  con- 
tinuously for  thirty-one  years. 

In  '49,  when  the  California  gold  fever  broke  out,  Wind- 
ham furnished  three  men  for  the  compan}^  that  sailed  from 
New^  London  :  Allen  Stoddard,  William  Webb  and  Mose- 
ly  Curtis. 


92 

OUR  PRESENT  POPULA  TION. 

A  word  about  our  present  population  will  be  timely. 
Of  the  10,000  in  town  (8,600  being  in  the  borough)  hot 
far  from  2,300  are  of  Irish  extraction,  about  1,800  of  French 
Canadian  extraction,  and  nearly  all  the  remainder  of  Eng- 
lish origin.  There  are  about  300  Swedes  and  50  colored 
persons.  Of  the  first  named,  only  about  600  were  born  in 
Ireland,  the  rest  are  native  Americans.  The  Canadians 
have  not  been  as  long  among  us,  but  they  are  a  rapidly 
growing  people,  and  the  proportion  of  foreign  born  among 
them  is  fast  decreasing. 

Irishmen  first  appeared  in  Willimantic  in  considerable 
numbers  about  1840  to  work  for  Jillson  and  Capen.  They 
were  as  much  of  a  curiosity  to  our  people,  as  we  to  them, 
and  at  least  as  awkward  as  we  should  be  in  Ireland.  Irish 
blunders,  coupled  with  native  Irish  wit,  supplied  the 
almanacs  with  jokes  for  a  generation.  They  came  in 
large  numbers  to  help  build  the  railroads,  and  then  to 
enter  the  mills.  From  the  first  they  have  come  to  stay, 
practically  an  English  speaking  people,  or  at  least  with 
no  adherence  to  their  native  tongue,  for  I  have  yet  to 
learn  of  an  Irish  immigrant  parent  who  has  transmitted  his 
language  to  his  American-born  children.  The  Irish  came 
here,  driven  from  oppression  to  freedom,  to  find  a  home, 
and  to  become  Americans.  They  have  never  shown  any 
tendency  to  return.  They  are  intelligent  and  thrifty,  as 
modern  Willimantic  is  showing.  To-day  their  share  of 
the  taxable  grand  list  is  over  $300,000  ;  they  are  building 
many  homes,  and  they  are  as  much  attached  to  this 
country  as  any  of  its  inhabitants.  Thirty  graves  of  sacred 
memory  in  the  Catholic  cemetery  testify  to  their  loyalty 
to  the  old  flag  in  1861.  To  show  how  rapidly  they  are 
becoming  indigenous  to  our  soil,  we  have  only  to  recall 
that  the  census  of  i860  showed  490  born  in  Ireland,  while 
to- day  with  our  population  tripled,  the  Irish  born  scarcely 
exceed  600.  I  saw  a  photograph  group  of  young  Irish- 
Americans  of  Willimantic,  a  few  days  ago,  and  they 
looked  more  American  than  Irish. 


93 

With  the  Canadians  it  was  different  at  the  outset.  They 
came  here  about  1852  to  work  in  the  Smithville  mills  and 
they  had  no  purpose  to  stay,  but  thought  to  accumulate 
wages  and  return  to  Canada.  Their  national  ties  were 
much  stronger  than  those  of  the  Irish  and  they  took  care  to 
preserve  their  language  and  teach  it  to  their  children.  But 
the  public  schools  and  the  American  ideas  are  doing  their 
inevitable  work.  The  Frenchmen,  too,  are  learning  to 
love  Willimantic,  and  in  later  years  have  been  less  and  less 
inclined  to  leave  it.  Their  little  self-owned  homes  are 
scattered  here  and  there,  and  the  tax-list  now  rates  their 
taxable  property  at  $60,000,  almost  entirely  in  little  build- 
ings which  bespeak  volumes  of  interest  in  the  new  and 
with  many  of  them  native  land.  Irish  immigration  has 
practically  ceased,  but  Canadians  are  still  coming.  Both 
classes  multiply  more  rapidly  than  does  the  older  native 
stock.  Together  they  make  up  to-day  nearly  half  of  our 
population.  They  have  as  much  right  here  as  any  one, 
and  they  are  as  well  disposed.  We  welcome  them.  The 
historic  ties  of  Ireland,  France  and  America  are  peculiarly 
kindred  in  the  struggle  for  liberty. 

THE  FUTURE. 

To-day  w^e  stand  face  to  face  with  the  Windham  of  the 
future.  What  shall  it  be?  It  may  be  great.  We  have 
within  our  borders  the  making  of  a  large  and  prosperous 
city  of  wholesome  character.     How  can  it  be  done? 

The  first  thing  w^e  need  is  public  spirit^  a  better  realiza- 
tion of  the  principle  that  the  good  of  the  least,  is  the  good 
of  all. 

We  need  more  lo3'alty  and  confidence  in  our  owai  town, 
and  in  each  other; — less  of  this  pulling  and  hauling  by 
rings  and  cliques  for  selfish  ends,  and  more  of  united 
action  for  the  general  welfare,  w^hich  is  always  the  best 
welfare  of  each;  less  of  that  spirit  which  looks  upon  every 
new  industry  as  a  rival,  and  chokes  off  every  projected  im- 
provement which  does  not  benefit  "my  property."  We 
need  less  of  that  financial  short-sightedness  that  will  stake 


94 

its  all  on  a  Wall  street  margin  or  chase  an  imaginarj^  ten- 
per-cent  dividend  into  a  silverless  Montana  earth-pit,  and 
more  of  that  practical  common  sense  which  knows  that 
earnings  reinvested  in  our  own  town  at  four  per  cent  will 
promote  a  growth  that  in  a  few  years  wnll  add  another 
four  per  cent,  with  the  further  advantage  of  knowing 
where  your  propert}^  is! 

We  need  better  unity  in  education.  It  is  time  we  abol- 
ished the  hap-hazard  school-district  S3\steni  and  adopted 
an  intelligent  educational  polic}^  The  state  offers  us 
superior  advantages,  and  we  should  hasten  to  improve 
them.  And  as  for  the  public  school,  the  one  great  fact 
for  us  all  to  realize  is,  that  whatever  our  origin  or  nation- 
ality, one,  two,  three,  or  a  dozen  generations  back,  and 
whatever  our  personal  religious  creed,  the  one  hope  for 
an  harmonious  future  is  in  a  common  education  in  a  com- 
mon school,  and  the  development  of  our  children  into  an 
homogeneous  people.  This  is  true  of  Towm,  State  and 
Nation,  and  I  am  particularl}^  pleased  to  add  that,  by  in- 
quir}^,  I  find  it  to  be  the  common  sentiment  of  the  more 
intelligent  representatives  of  the  three  nationalities  of 
which  we  are  chiefly  composed. 

We  need  a  better  understanding  and  appreciation  of 
each  other.  The  problem  of  the  nation  is  represented  in 
Willimantic.  We  must  look  less  to  the  accident  or  en- 
vironment of  birth  and  more  to  the  character  and  spirit  of 
the  man.  We  are  here  together  to  sta^'.  Our  interests  are 
common,  not  diverse,  and  we  must  seek  to  develop  our 
agreements,  notour  differences. 

We  need  a  keener  sense  of  what  the  public  welfare  de- 
mands, and  courage  to  follow  it.  We  need  to  recognize 
that  right  principles  are  the  product  of  experience,  and 
that  right  action  has  a  positive,  practical  value  as  well  as 
an  eternal  moral  obligation. 

lyoyalty  to  Windham,  loyalty  to  each  other,  loyalty  to 
conscience,  is  the  spirit  in  which  we  shall  face  the  future, 
and  so  through  the  third  century  of  our  beloved  commu- 
nity, may  God  speed  the  right ! 


THE  EPIC  OF   WINDHAM. 


[by  theron  brown.] 


One  day  of  the  days  diviue, 

When  the  gods  roamed  everywhere, 
The  horse  of  the  sacred  Nine 

Came  down  from  his  path  in  the  air; 
His  lightning  hoof  fell  first 

On  the  slope  of  Helicon  green, 
And  out  of  that  footprint  burst 

The  fountain  of  Hippocrene. 

And  ever  since  then  the  thought 

Of  the  world  the  stor}^  has  kept. 
And  scholar  and  sage  have  sought 

The  place  where  Pegasus  stepped; 
And  the  hole  of  the  white  hoof  still 

O'erfiows  with  the  magic  spring 
Where  the  poets  drink  their  fill 

And  the  daughters  of  music  sing. 

Will  the  fountain's  flow  ever  cease? 

Will  the  old  tale  ever  die  out? 
Its  part  in  the  fame  of  Greece 

Do  any  deny  or  doubt? 
Do  you  call  the  dreamer  a  dolt 

Whose  fancy  and  faith  indorse 
The  myth  of  Minerva's  colt. 

The  Muses'  family  horse? 

From  the  humblest  ground  that  shows 

The  dent  of  the  flying  steed 
Some  slip  of  poetry  grows, 

Some  flower  of  immortal  seed. 
Full  many  a  hamlet's  pride, 

Full  many  a  city's  seal 
Is  the  stamp  where  Pegasus  tried 

The  weight  of  his  wizard  heel. 


96 

One  night,  on  the  rising  whiff 

Of  the  wind  of  a  new  renown, 
The  wonderful  hippogriff 

Came  sailing  o'er  Windham  town. 
Swift  Hill  just  under  his  girth  ' 

Rose  green,  but  he  went  bej'Ond, 
And  his  hind  foot  struck  the  earth 

At  the  bottom  of  Follett's  Pond. 

The  village  woke  at  the  whack. 

Had  they  heard  a  cannon  explode? 
Ten  to  one  on  the  stallion's  back 

That  night  Bellerophon  rode. 
For  the  noise  that  followed  him  roared 

With  a  terrible  warlike  din 
As  if  all  Waterloo  poured 

From  the  hole  that  the  horse  broke  in. 

In  the  ballads  early  and  late 

Still  echoes  the  hullaballoo 
From  seventeen  fifty  and  eight 

To  eighteen  ninety  and  two. 
And  the  fame  of  that  battle  dark 

Will  sing  over  Windham  Green 
Till  the  last  frog  ceases  to  bark 

In  the  mud  of  her  Hippocrene. 

The  maps  of  glory  make  room 

For  the  town  with  a  tale  to  tell; 
You  are  sure  of  a  world-wide  boom 

Where  the  Muses  open  a  well. 
And  to  stir  a  song  from  its  source 

In  the  dirt  of  the  prosy  trades 
One  kick  of  the  winged  horse 

Is  better  than  forty  spades. 


The  silent  ballads  of  the  tawny  tribes 
Will  never  sound  again.     No  warrior  scribes 
Compiled  on  strip  or  scroll  the  tuneful  spoil 
Of  the  wild  ancients  of  our  homestead  soil. 
No  word  of  savage  minstrel  points  to-dav 
To  where  their  Tempes  and  Arcadias  lay, 
Nor  lives  one  leaf  or  line  of  lettered  lore, 
By  hand  of  feathered  priest  or  sagamore. 
To  tell  a  rescued  region's  paler  sons 
The  story  of  her  earliest  Marathons. 


97 

Barbarian  fate  !     Those  first  New  EiiKlaud  men 

Who  plucked  the  eagles— never  made  a  pen. 

Their  gaudy  helmets  tossed  the  inkless  quills  ; 

Their  arrows  strewed  them  on  these  heedless  hills, 

And  left  their  speech,  their  thought,  their  life,  their  age, 

A  glimmering  legend  on  an  empty  page. 

But  o'er  their  fields  by  peaceiul  white  men  plowed 

Break  the  same  wind  and  thunder  from  the  cloud, 

Fall  the  same  dew,  and  rain,  and  snow,  and  sleet. 

That  wet,  in  strife  or  chase,  their  buskined  feet, 

In  the  same  tones  through  summer,  winter,  spring, 

The  Willimantic  and  Shetucket  sing, 

The  same  sun  shines,  the  stars  unsleeping  glow 

Out  of  the  dim'  colonial  long  ago, 

While  here  and  there  some  local  memory  frames 

The  forest  music  of  the  red  men's  names. 

And  curious  fancy,  half  unriddling,  reads 

Their  "totems"  on  our  queer  ancestral  deeds. 

Between  the  shadowy  days  of  Nipmuck  land 
New-conquered  by  the  fierce  Mohegan's  hand. 
When  Joshua  Attawanhood,  with  his  dog- 
Hunted  on  Brick-top,  angled  in  Natchaug, 
Or  in  his  wigwam  carved  his  powder  horn 
While  Sowgonask,  his  Podunk  squaw,  hoed  corn, — 
Between  those  days  (whose  echoes  still  ascend 
From  Millard's  Meadow  to  Hop  River  Bend,) 
And  the  first  planting  of  a  Christian  home, 
The  ghosts  of  Andros  and  King  Philip  come 
To  tell  how  meanly,  by  their  marplot  aid, 
This  bi-centenuial  was  ten  years  dela3'ed. 
But  we  forgive  them.     Their  ungracious  part 
Assured  and  strengthened  our  historic  start, 
And  gave  us  a  "first-settler"  to  engage 
The  careless  eyes  that  skip  our  title  page. 

Late  in  the  seventeenth  century's  afternoon, 
Unlike  the  moon-man,  who  "came  down  too  soon," 
Our  Englishman /row  Norwich  found  his  way 
Up  where  these  meadows  in  the  sunshine  lay, 
And,  forced  to  exile  by  some  strange  renown. 
Became  the  Cecrops  of  a  Yankee  town. 

Mysterious  foreigner  !  still  silent  waits 
The  story  of  van-courier  John  Gates. 
A  wandering  star  untraced  by  friends  or  foes, 


98 

Men  saw  him  set  who  knew  not  where  he  rose. 
Romantic  fancy,  hovering  where  he  died, 

Ranked  him  "lieutenant,"  called  him  "regicide," 

Marked  him  red-handed  from  the  Cromwell  wars, 

Pious  and  pitiless,  and  at  our  doors 

In  fable  now  the  British  bull-dog  snarls 

For  the  stray  Roundhead  who  helped  kill  King  Charles. 

Pious  he  was,  and  Puritan,  possessed 

Of  worldly  goods,  a  gentleman,  a  guest 

Of  Pilgrim  Land,  a  friend  of  high  and  low, 

A  freeman — and  he  owned  a  slave,  black  Joe  ! 

Enough  that  by  the  moral  light  he  saw. 
When  liberty  was  only  white  men's  law. 
His  human  chattel  was  no  swift  reproof 
To  one  whose  vSoul  had  felt  oppression's  hoof. 
Since  Right,  to  even  a  Mayflower  refugee. 
Implied  no  negro's  title  to  be  free. 

We  trust  the  legend  that  John  Cates  was  kind. 

As  kind  of  heart  as  liberal  of  mind, 

And,  after  twice  four  years  of  upright  deeds, 

And  generous  thoughts  for  Windham's  future  needs. 

When,  praised  for  scattered  blessings,  he  who  gave 

The  town's  first  dwelling  filled  its  earliest  grave. 

That  the  green  threshold  of  his  churchyard  inn 

Was  watered  by  the  tears  of  black  Joe  Binn. 

Round  that  first  farmstead,  settling  one  by  one, 
New  households  gathered  ;  Windham  was  begun. 
Along  old  "Nipniuck  path"  her  street  was  laid, 
And  peace  built  mansions  where  barbarians  played. 
Survey,  through  Time's  inverted  glass  again 
That  corporation  of  eleven  men. 
One  less  than  Israel's  chiefs,  the  chosen  few 
Numbered  in  mid-May,  sixteen-ninet3-two, 
At  the  same  figure  where,  in  hopeful  doubt, 
Th'  apostles  stood — with  Judas'  name  left  out. 
They  had  no  use  for  Judas  in  their  plan. 
Those  honest  souls,  united  man  to.  man. 
Their  law  of  living  from  one  book  the}^  learned. 
In  all  their  seven  houses  altars  burned. 
Ttiey  kept  the  Sabbath  day,  they  never  swore. 
And,  with  the  horseshoe  hung  o'er  every  door. 
They  balked  the  devil,  and  the  Salem  fad 
That  drove,  that  year,  all  Massachusetts  mad. 


99 

They  thrived — and  if  with  one  good-natnred  lift 
"Luck  in  odd  numbers"  helped  their  infant  thrift 
Their  earliest  parson  kept  the  fact  in  mind, 
Who  served  the  town,  in  good  old  Bradford  kind, 
With  olive  branches,  frequent,  fresh  and  green, 
And  never  stopped  until  he  raised  thirteen! 
And  all  that  baker's  dozen  did  so  well 
That  to  this  day  the  Whitings  "wear  the  bell." 

'Twas  with  a  saintl}'  vision,  sorrow-free 

Our  fathers  faced  th'  uncertain  yet-to-be. 

They  fed  their  herds  and  tilled  their  virgin  farms, 

They  felled  the  forests  with  their  sturdy  arms, 

They  drove  to  Norwich  wharf  their  brindled  teams 

With  hay,  and  grain,  and  pine  and  hemlock  beams, 

And  piles  of  cheese,  and  barrelled  beef  and  pork, 

And  bales  of  home-knit  stockings  for  New  York, 

They  counted  eggs,  and  measured  meal  and  milk. 

They  weighed  wool  fleeces,  while  their  wives  made  silk. 

They  shared  their  plenty  in  Thanksgiving  joys, 

They  schooled  and  catechised  their  girls  and  boys. 

They  met  at  Goodman  More's  to  sing  and  pray. 

They  praised  their  preacher's  work — with  solid  pay — 

The  Levite  portion  in  their  parted  grounds, 

Good  corn,  good  wood,  good  meat  and  sterling  pounds, 

Nor  ever  dreamed,  in  simple  faith  secure. 

That  calm,  idyllic  life  would  not  endure. 

New  neighbors  came;  apace  the  hamlet  grew; 

O'er  vacant  lots  the  building  fever  flew, 

Till  the  swift  orders  fairly  put  to  pain 

Jonathan  Jennings  with  his  saw  and  plane. 

Soon  rose  the  meeting-house,  the  church  was  born. 

Soon  rose  the  mills,  for  lumber  and  for  corn. 

No  prophet  then  saw  Windham  stretch  her  neck 

Up  Willimantic  to  Naubeseteck 

To  read  her  fortune  in  the  river-gorge 

On  the  wild  rocks  by  Daniel  Badger's  forge. 

Nor  when,  next  century,  like  Elijah's  cloud, 

John  Cates's  handful  had  become  a  crowd, 

Could  the  grave  fathers  ow^n  without  a  pang 

The  noisier  tune  old  "Southeast  Quarter"  sang. 

The  psalmist's  "sparrow"  fretted  on  its  perch  ; 

Faith  took  new  forms,  each  precinct  had  its  church. 

Austere  dissensions  vexed  the  gospel-fold, 

Debate  grew  hot,  and  piety  grew  cold. 


100 

Came  mortal  sickness  next,  and  where  it  swept 

In  half  the  village  homes  some  mother  wept, 

And  strong  men  fell,  and  pastors  on  their  knees 

Said  prayers  for  them,  and  died — then  thro'  the  trees 

"A  sound  of  going,"  like  King  David's  sign 

To  meet  the  midnight  foes  of  Palestine, 

Stirred  the  unwilling  souls  that  waited  for 

The  threatened  terrors  of  a  border  war. 

'Twas  in  that  weak,  unsettled,  sad,  half-blind, 

Foreboding,  wishful,  timorous  state  of  mind 

Our  fathers  heard  another  sound,  whose  fame, 

In  mirth  immortal  linked  to  Windham's  name, 

Has  laughed  to  health  more  hypochondriacs 

Than  ever  convalesced  on  Holmes  or  Saxe. 

O'er  half  the  globe  the  very  nurseries  learn 

The  swampy  music  of  that  droll  nocturne. 

In  pamphlets,  scrap  books  from  collectors'  shears. 

In  histories,  cj^clopedias,  gazetteers, 

Song-books  and  school-books — where  the  English  tongue 

Is  talked  or  read — the  tale  is  said  or  sung. 

We  tell  it  gladly,  smiling  with  the  rest 

To  think  how  far  its  fun  the  world  has  blessed, 

And  rail  at  Parson  Peters  in  our  pride 

No  more — but  O,  how  Parson  Peters  lied  ! 

In  the  periwig  times  of  old  Governor  Fitch — 

Fifty-four,  Fifty-eight,  call  it  either  or  which — 

In  seventeen-hundred-and-something-half-way, 

At  the  close  of  a  sweltering  midsummer  day. 

By  the  East  Windham  grist  mill,  a  mile  out  of  town. 

The  flood-gate  was  up  and  the  water  was  down  ; 

For  the  owner  or  miller — Job,  Peter  or  Sam, 

Had  drawn  off  the  pond  while  he  tinkered  the  dam  ; 

And  the  bull-frogs  that  peopled  the  mud-puddle  gloom 

Rubbed  heads  in  the  shallows  and  crowded  for  room. 

Each  croaker,  beginning  his  first  serenade, 

Felt  a  haul  and  a  hitch  in  the  music  he  made, 

And  elbowed  his  fellows  with  croupy  complaint, 

Till  the  humor  of  all  took  the  quarrelsome  taint, 

And  missing  the  seat  where  he  commonly  sung, 

Every  Punch  had  a  crack  in  his  temper  and  lung. 

"Cudderow,  cudderow,"  grumbled  little  and  great ; 

"You  plug,"  said  old  Pop-eye.     "You  plague,"  said  his  mate; 

"Jug  o'  rum,"  thundered  Yellow  throat;  "Slum,"  echoed  back. 

The  meanest  and  wartiest  sneak  in  the  pack. 

The  concert  was  broken  ;  the}'^  tried  it  in  vain  ; 


101 

The  low-water  tangle  was  S3'inpliony's  bane. 

Once  more,  and  once  more  they  began  it,  but  no  ; 

They  could  pitch  the  old  notes,  but  the  chime  wouldn't  go. 

The  hole  in  the  milldam  had  narrowed  their  brink, 

And  stinted  their  song  when  it  stinted  their  drink, 

And  the  mischief  had  put  the  whole  pond  out  of  tune 

On  that  moonless  and  starless  old  evening  in  June. 

vSo  it  went,  till  at  midnight  the  jangle  of  sound 
Broke  loose  like  a  Bedlam  shot  out  of  the  ground. 
Had  the  demon  of  discord  who  fingered  the  dice 
In  the  Homeric  war  of  the  frogs  and  the  mice 
Whispered  '-rats"  down  the  stream  thro'  the  Windhamite  fens 
And  fooled  the  bog-jumpers  to  fight  their  own  friends  ? 
Was  it  witchcraft  ?  Be  sure  had  it  happened  before 
By  summers  and  winters  some  three  and  three  score, 
'Twere  the  toss  of  a  copper  some  crazy  old  dame 
Would  have  died  for  the  rumpus — or  shouldered  the  blame. 
No,  the  romantic  theor}-  patented  last 
Brings  never  a  broomstick  a-whisk  on  the  blast, 
But  calls  all  the  gods  of  Parnassus  to  say 
The  colt  of  Minerva  that  night  got  away 
And  found  that  just  here,  at  the  critical  time, 
He  had  put  "his  foot  in  it,"  and  started  a  rhyme. 
And  stirred  up  the  angry  batrachian  Mars 
To  an  uproar  that  frightened  him  back  to  the  stars. 

Go  down  on  the  old'Scotland  turnpike,  and  guess 
The  rage  and  the  ramp  of  that  web-footed  mess 
And  the  blatant  alarm  in  our  forefathers'  ears 
That  could  echo  a  hundred  and  thirty-eight  years. 
All  the  frogs  in  the  fables  ran  never  so  mad 
As  the  tribe  in  that  basin  that  went  to  the  bad 
When  the  touch  of  a  vagabond  sprite  set  afire 
Every  cold-blooded  liver  that  grew  in  the  mire. 
A  thousand  blind  furies  in  bottle-green  coats 
Fell  afoul  with  a  howl  and  a  clutching  of  throats, 
And  the  battle  waxed  hot,  and  the  swell  of  the  storm 
Swept  in  every  reptile  that  croaked  in  the  swarm, 
Till  the  whole  slimy  kindred  of  Jack-in-the-pool 
Were  twisted  and  mixed  like  a  mackerel  school 
In  a  slippery,  squirming,  unspeakable  hash 
Of  lunatic  frenzy  to  strangle  and  smash. 
There  was  Blunderhead  crushing  poor  Peep  like  an  egg, 
There  was  Drum-Billy  butting  young  Grasshopper-leg, 
There  were  Humpback  and  Cottonmouth,  Shiney  and  Stripe, 
Hee-haw,  Wallow-swallow,  Bim-bome,  Little-pipe, 
Thorough-bass,  Ganderfoot,  Wapperjaw,  Doubledone, 


102 

And  Bulldoze,  and  vSpeckle,  and  Son-of-a-gun, 
And  Tom-in-the-cattails,  and  Crocodile-rib, 
And  giant  Swamp-cabbage,  and  dwarf  Yellows-bib, 
And  Ivongsliank,  and  Polly-wog,  White-eye,  and  Turk, 
And  Dog-face,  and  lyoafer-that-watches-the-work, 
Peagreen,  Silver-Dude,  Monkey-nose,  and  Dull-thud, 
And  Bawder,  and  Sprawler,  and  Stick-in-the-mud, 
And  fat  Beetle-dragon,  and  slim  Hammer-tongue, 
And  Quack,  and  Fog-trumpet,  and  Chop,  and  Cow-lung, 
Go-bang,  Bellows-bag,  Shovel-lip,  Thunder-bug, 
And  Wheezer,  and  Sneezer,  and  Honker  and  Chug, 
And  Squatter,  and  Squealer,  and  Brag,  and  Bow-wow, 
All  mixed  in  the  tussle,  and  booming  the  row. 

They  kicked,  and  they  splashed,  and   they   spattered   and 
swore, 
They  wrestled  and  tumbled  all  over  the  shore  : 
There  were  scrapings  and  scratchings  without  any  claws, 
There  were  biters  that  hadn't  a  tooth  in  their  jaws, 
There  were  chokings  and  pinchings  nobody  could  see, 
And  death  to  the  undermost  wretch  in  the  spree. 
The  mill-water  smoked  like  a  buffalo-drive, 
The  midnight,  the  darkness  itself  seemed  alive. 
The  black  hurly  burly  shot  horrible  sounds 
Like  the  Wild  Hunter's  bugle  and  bellowing  hounds, 
Or  the  Walpurgis  revel  that  suddenly  starts 
At  the  bidding  of  fiends  in  the  glens  of  the  Hartz; 
And  the  trick  of  the  air  made  them  gather  and  go 
To  the  westward,  away  from  the  valley  below 
So  high  that  the  miller-folk,  seasoned  to  all 
The  dogs  on  the  turnpike  and  cats  on  the  wall, 
Lay  still  while  the  frogs  clamored  hither  and  yon, 
And  let  the  uncouth  bombilation  go  on, 
Tho'  it  jarred  every  bedstead  ajid  window  and  door 
As  if  a  small  earthquake  rolled  under  the  floor. 
But  the  roar  on  the  east  wind,  that  went  to  the  town. 
No  charm  could  break  up  and  no  reason  sleep  down. 
It  tore  thro'  the  heart  of  the  mid-summer  calm, 
And  shook  all  the  clouds  over  Joshua's  farm. 
Every  bird  on  its  roost  felt  the  rush  of  the  rout. 
Every  leaf  on  the  dew-dabbled  trees  was  a  shout. 
Every  cubical  inch  of  the  shivering  mist 
Held  an  ounce  of  blue  thunder  that  hit  like  a  fist. 
And,  alas,  for  the  house  that  was  shingled  too  thin 
When  the  dream-breaking  din-devil  knocked  to  come  in! 

The  first  human  soul  in  the  village  awake 
Was  a  poor  rattled  negro — the  minister's  Jake — 


103 

Who  ran  thro'  the  streets  at  a  hurricane  pace 

With  a  budget  of  tidings  as  black  as  his  face, 

And  howled  at  the  windows  on  Meeting-house  Square, 

"Bar's  sunifin'  a  happenin'  up  in  the  air!" 

What  is  it?    The  sleepers  pick  open  their  eyes; 

Every  hair  of  their  heads  is  a  creeping  surprise. 

The  pillows  are  empty  before  the  cock-crow: 

It  has  come — Windham's  historic  moment  of  woe! 

In  night-caps  and  slumber-gowns,  barefoot  and  pale. 

The  people  stand  helpless,  like  weeds  in  a  gale. 

From  the  roar  of  the  Babel  which  way  will  they  fly? 

They  huddle,  they  shudder,  they  whisper,  they  cry. 

With  hearts  that  stop  beating,  and  faces  that  blench 

"Prepare  for  the  Indians!     Look  out  for  the  French! 

There's  a  tomahawk  dance,  and  a  battle  refrain! 

The  powows  are  out,  over  on  Chewink  Plain!" 

They  listen;  the  clamor  grows  heavy  and  grum — 

The  tramp  of  an  army!  the  throb  of  the  drum! 

Till  the  sound's  very  fury  the  notion  destroys; 

Would  a  foe  that  was  "stealing  a  march"  make  a  noise? 

Some  terror  more  solemn  than  war  must  be  nigh: 

'Twas  the  trump  of  the  Judgment,  the  wreck  of  the  sky! 

Ah,  sufferers  smitten  with  sense  of  their  blames! 
Some  fancied  strange  voices  repeating  their  names. 
Grave  town-folk  of  local  and  civil  repute. 
Plain  yeomen,  sharp  tradesmen,  stood  ghastly  and  mute, 
And  lawyers,  and  doctors,  and  deacons,  appalled, 
Wondered  how  came  the  summons,  and  why  they  were  called; 
And  loudest  of  all  in  the  frightful  ado 
Rang  up  "Col.  Dyer!"  and  "Elderkin  too!" 

What  said  the*  stout  Colonel  now  sleeps  in  his  grave. 
But  the  thought  of  poor  Cuffee,  his  gray-headed  slave, 
W^hen  he  caught  the  wild  note  of  the  ending  of  Time, 
Came  out  like  a  victor-cry,  quaintly  sublime, 
"I'm  glad  on't,  I  be!     I'm  glad  on't,  I  be! 
My  hard  work  is  ober — dis  niggah  is  free!" 
There  were  wailings  of  children  afraid  of  their  lives. 
There  were  shriekings  and  swoonings  of  mothers  and  wives 
There  were  shakings  of  strong  men,  and  pallors  of  dread, 
And  rash  words,  forgotten  the  hour  they  were  said. 
There  was  mounting  in  haste  by  the  bravest  {they  say 
The  horsemen  were  Elderkin,  Dyer,  and  Gray), 
And  they  rode  with  a  watch,  and  they  rode  with  a  will 
Straight  out  of  the  village  and  up  Mullein  Hill,— 
Then  silently  back,  with  a  sting  in  their  ears. 
And  a  smile  for  the  women  and  children  in  tears,— 


104 

And  the  sounds  in  the  sky  grew  less  awful  and  loud 
When  a  curt  explanation  had  scattered  the  crowd, 
Till  the  hubbub  and  horror  died  where  they  were  born, 
And  the  scare  of  the  midnight  left  shame  for  the  morn. 

But  the  cry  of  poor  Cuffee,  wrung  out  of  a  breast 
That  never  knew  Liberty's  blessing  of  rest, 
As  it  spoke  thro'  the  tumult  of  doom  in  the  air 
The  pathos  of  triumph  in  spite  of  despair, 
Still  lives  in  the  lore  of  that  wonderful  fright. 
To  challenge  a  world  that  denied  him  his  right, 
And  tells  of  the  patience  its  burden  that  bore 
So  long  without  hope  it  could  dread  nothing  more. 
Could  the  pity  of  heaven,  that  counted  his  tears, 
Have  lengthened  and  strengthed  his  life  thirty  years, 
Till  the  Blue-law.  dominion  turned  white  in  the  sun 
That  shone  on  her  freedom  when  justice  was  done. 
The  simple  old  slave  in  his  happy  surprise 
Would  have  known  that  God's  angel,  tho'  slowly  he  flie; 
May  come  to  the  help  of  His  mourners,  and  say 
Some  great  benedictions  before  the  Last  Day. 
But  he  knew  it  when  death  on  his  ebony  brow 
Put  his  crown,  and  he  knows  it  in  jubilee  now, 
While  Peace  o'er  his  ashes,  in  blossoming  turf. 
Writes  "king"  on  the  ground  where  he  toiled  as  a  serf, 
And  her  benison  falls,  like  a  leaf  from  a  tree, 
"His  hard  work  is  over,  the  bondman  is  free." 

When  the  morning  was  bright  and  the  water  was  still 

The  good  Windham  fathers  went  down  to  the  mill, 

Where,  in  white-bellied  ruin  turned  up  to  the  day, 

The  last  that  was  left  of  the  mystery  lay. 

'Twas  a  mystery  still.     Of  the  hundreds  they  found 

On  the  battle-field  slain  not  a  frog  had  a  wound  ! 

And  whether  the}'  worried  themselves  out  of  breath 

Or  were  strangled  and  bulldozed,  and  bellowed  to  death 

Or  squelched  by  the  nightmare  that  rode  in  the  fen, 

Is  as  much  of  a  riddle  this  moment  as  then  ; 

And  the  poets  who  rhyme  the  old  story,  and  feign 

A  demigod's  doing  where  none  can  explain, 

Ma}^  kill  off  the  frogs  with  an  epic  or  ode. 

And  leave  the  whole  question  to  run  in  the  road. 

The  sound  of  a  harp  built  a  city  in  Greece, 
And  Rome  was  once  saved  by  the  cackle  of  geese 
Great  London  grew  rich  by  a  grasshopper's  chat. 
And  her  longest  lord  mayor  was  made  by  a  cat. 


105 

As  we  come  in  the  prime  of  our  own  ninety-two 

To  the  scene  of  last  century's  June  bugaboo, 

Our  meed  to  its  memory  measures  its  claim, 

To  the  worth  of  all  trifles  that  bloom  into  fame. 

We'll  grudge  not  a  whit  of  its  folly  and  fun 

To  the  legend  that  gave  us  our  marvellous  run, 

But  leaving  our  rivals,  who  banter  our  prize. 

To  the  fate  of  the  dealer  who  don't  advertise. 

Like  the  church  or  the  party  that  wears  on  its  breast 

The  nickname  its  enemies  gave  it  in  jest, 

We'll  nail  to  our  lintels  the  bullfrog  burgee 

Of  the  Windham  that  was  for  the  Windham  to  be. 

Another  century;  — and  these  pleasant  fields, 

Still  rich  with  all  the  sw^eets  that  summer  3nelds, 

Asked  of  the  streets,  that  made  them  no  reply, 

Where  were  the  busy  throngs  that  once  passed  by. 

From  Quinnebaug  the  cocks  of  Brooklyn  crew, 

"Keep  the  old  court  house  and  we'll  keep  the  new." 

And  all  the  partridges  of  Pond-town  beat 

"Old  Windham  is  no  more  the  county  seat." 

The  lonely  mother  took  a  last  survey 

O'er  the  broad  freeholds  she  had  given  awa}^. 

Then  saw,  between  her  rivers  narrowed  down. 

Her  suburb  more  a  city  than  a  town, 

And  swift  divining,  as  she  viewed  the  scene, 

The  mammon  mystery  of  her  slighted  Green, 

Admired  the  thrifty  paradox  that  planned 

To  swell  her  census  while  it  shrank  her  land. 

Enough  that  Fate's  decree,  and  Plutus'  will. 

Emptied  the  farmhouse  and  o'erflowed  the  mill. 

Her  life  was  like  the  years  that  marked  her  walls, 

Pure  at  the  spring  and  wealthy  at  the  Falls. 

Old  "Center,"  helpless  in  her  lean  extreme, 

Must  move,  or  die — or  radiate  up  the  stream. 

She  chose  the  last,  to  please  the  civil  whim 

That  stints  the  heart  to  feed  the  biggest  limb. 

Her  churches  knocked  at  Willimantic  doors; 

Her  offices,  fire  companies,  and  stores 

Went  the  same  way;  the  taverns  marched  in  rank, 

And  last  of  all  went  Windham  County  Bank. 

(I  pause  to  nurse  a  quaint  remembrance  here, 
That  bank  and  I  were  born  the  self-same  year. 
I  mind  its  notes,  between  whose  figures  poked 
Two  frogs — so  lifelike  that  they  almost  croaked; 
The  original  "greenbacks,"  of  the  native  race, 


106 

That  long  anticipated  Salmon  Chase, 
They  blossomed,  like  pond  lilies  from  the  nind. 
Memento  of  a  war  that  shed  no  blood. 
And  proof  how  frugal  wit  a  joke  can  seize 
And  turn  to  shrewd  account  the  sorest  tease. 
That  bank  held  my  first  pittance  in  its  tills; 
I  went  through  college  on  those  bull-frog  bills; 
And  when  my  next  ancestral  check  comes  in 
I'll  get  the  cash  from  my  old  fiscal  twin.) 

Home  of  my  sires,  on  thy  historic  clock, 

Since  Captain  Abbee  out  of  Norwich  dock 

Sailed  the  sloop  Windham,  with  its  pennon  slim, 

Its  golden-lettered  streak,  its  snowy  trim. 

Its  green  frog  figurehead — and  proudly  bore 

Thy  modest  commerce  to  Manhattan's  shore. 

Time's  creeping  hands  have  crossed  the  age  of  steam, 

To  where  the  lightnings  of  new  noonday  gleam. 

And  the  toiun  Windham,  with  her  helm  alee, 

Swings  into  port,  and  rigs  again  for  sea. 

Fate,  to  this  summit  hour  from  long  ago 

Twice  round  the  centiiry-dial  following  slow. 

Has  left  forever  shining  by  the  way 

Some  broken  sunbeams  of  each  faded  day. 

The  light  of  old  instruction  will  not  fail 

The  church  that  gave  a  president  to  Yale; 

Old  patriotism  haunts  the  place  that  bred 

One  of  the  Signers  whom  John  Hancock  led; 

Old  courage  lives  that  burned  in  heroes'  veins 

Who,  from  this  village,  fought  in  four  campaigns; 

Old  worth  and  wisdom  in  the  garden  wait 

That  raised  a  full-grown  governor  of  the  state; 

The  same  old  Word  bears  witness  unimpeached, 

Where  stalwart  Whiting  and  Devotion  preached; 

And  if  old  basement  thrift  has  climbed  up  stairs 

God  bless  our  wealth,  and  save  our  millionaires! 

Our  mother!  backward  to  thy  morning  star 
We  scan  the  past  that  made  us  what  we  are. 
Tell  us,  thy  debtors,  tell  us,  nurse  of  men, 
What  Windham-now  can  do  for  Windham-then. 
Her  ancient  silence  grows  a  vision  seen — 
There  stands  a  cenotaph  on  yonder  Green — 
Its  polished  tablets  rich  with  names  and  dates, 
Its  bust  the  ideal  form  of  Founder  Cates. 
Recumbent  round  his  shaft  their  living  sons 


107 

Count  his  ten  colleagues  in  eternal  bronze  ; 
Along  the  solid  plinth,  in  cameo  brown, 
Brave  scenes  of  civic  story  sketch  the  town, 
While  keen  beholders,  questioning  below, 
Spy  the  bent  shapes  of  Cuffeeand  poor  Joe, 
And  in  one  small  cartouche,  obscurer  still. 
The  carved  fac  simile  of  a  frog  bank  bill. 

Bucolic  hamlet,  if  thy  children  say 
Such  monuments  are  money  thrown  away, 
Bid  them  at  least  in  sacred  honor  hold 
The  lingering  remnants  of  thy  life  of  old, 
Preserve  the  pious  hopes  and  pure  desires 
That  fed  and  fanned  her  morning  altar-fires. 
And  teach  again  thy  first  domestic  lore 
In  modern  homes  where  hearthstones  glow  no  more. 

To  thee,  fair  Centre,  pilgrims,  fain  to  greet 
Thy  busy  borough  clamoring  at  thy  feet. 
Soon  tiring  of  its  bustle  and  its  throng, 
When  earth  is  bright  and  summer  days  are  long. 
Escape,  where  nature  never  hears  or  feels 
The  humming  spindles  and  the  roaring  wheels. 
Thy  scene  of  leafy  calm  and  breezy  space 
To  us  will  every  year  be  "Hither  Place" 
Until  thy  vanished  saints  in  dream  pass  by 
And  call  us  to  the  Yonder  Place  on  high. 


AT    HOME. 


[BY    JOSEPHINE   M.    ROBBINS. 


We  come  to-day  with  friendl}^  hearts, 

With  cordial  words  and  true, 

To  tender  greetings  from  our  town 

To  this  old  town  and  3^ou. 

We  feel  to-day  as  they  may  feel 

Who  to  their  own  home  band 

Come  back  from  other  homes  to  clasp 

Their  dear  ones  by  the  hand. 

We  once  were  yours  !  Our  little  town 

Was  once  of  yours  a  part, 

And  side  by  side  we  walked  with  you. 

Thought  flew  from  heart  to  heart. 

When  tyranny  upon  the  throne 

Sought  to  lay  freedom  low, 

Our  sires  with  yours  went  forth  to  meet 

And  fight  a  foreign  foe. 

At  Bowling  Green  one  helped  to  pull 

King  George's  statue  down. 

At  sad  Long  Island's  brave  retreat 

One  marched  with  Washington 

Close  at  his  side,  so  near  a  hand 

Might  almost  touch  his  cloak. 

All  night  he  marched  in  solemn  tread, 

No  word  the  silence  broke. 

All  through  New  Jersey's  sharp  campaign 

Our  soldier's  camp  fire  burned 

With  Arnold,  Durkee,  Knowlton,  till 

The  tide  of  war  was  turned. 

A  valiant  son  of  worthy  sire, 

Who  at  his  country's  beck, 

Went  forth  with  gallant  Wolfe,  to  aid 

In  the  taking  of  Quebec. 


109 

Long  years  they've  rested  side  by  side 

In  the  churchyard  in  the  vale. 

Three  other  names  are  there,  brave  hearts 

Whose  courage  did  not  quail, 

One  starving  on  a  war  ship  lay 

Thro'  months  of  weary  pain. 

Yet  lived  to  see  his  friends  and  home 

And  little  ones  again. 

In  1812  when  British  ships 

As  they  had  done  before, 

Threatened  with  faggot  and  with  fire 

The  towns  along  the  shore. 

Our  sires  with  yours  went  bravely  forth 

And  quickly  marching  down 

Saved,  by  their  presence,  from  the  torch. 

The  threatened  harbor  town. 

When  treason  reared  its  hydra  head 

In  freedom's  darkest  night. 

Our  men  with  yours  went  side  by  side. 

To  battle  for  the  right. 

God  knoweth  and  man  knows  their  deeds, 

How  bravely  and  how  well 

They  bore  the  brunt  of  battle  shock, 

The  pain  of  prison  cell. 

Our  hopes,  our  joys,  our  interests 

With  yours  are  still  the  same, 

If  you  do  well  we  share  with  you 

The  glory  and  the  fame. 

We  love  to  name  when  far  from  home, 

Our  country  hr2LYe  and  true. 

Old  Windham  County,  dear  to  all. 

Received  its  name  from  you. 

Long  as  her  rocky  hills  shall  last. 

Long  as  her  rivers  run. 

The  memory  of  her  gallant  deeds. 

Her  battles  bravely  won, 

Shall  dwell  within  her  children's  hearts, 

Wherever  they  may  roam. 

And  coming  to  Old  Windham  Green, 

Be  always  coming  home. 


THE  FIRST  SETTLER. 


[by  jane  gay  fueIvER. 


Two  hundred  years  ago,  they  say, 
A  homeless  exile  came  this  way. 
In  search  of  some  secure  retreat 
For  weary  head  and  weary  feet. 
From  colony  to  colony 
The  man  had  wandered  ;  never  free 
From  apprehension,  and  the  dread 
Of  sovereign  vengeance  on  his  head  ; 
For  what  offence  w^e  cannot  tell, 
As  he  preserved  the  secret  well. 

'Tis  said  he  was  a  regicide. 

Whose  hands  in  royal  blood  were  dyed  ; 

It  seems  most  probable,  for  then 

The  regicides  were  death-doomed  men. 

But  little  know  we  of  this  man, 

Except  he  was  a  Puritan 

Who  rode  with  Cromwell  side  by  side 

And  sang,  "Let  God  be  glorified," 

While  hurling  weapons  at  the  foe  ; 

F'or  honest  men  will  fight  you  know 

For  church  and  creed  so  long  ago  ; 

And  toleration  was  not  learned 

While  Quakers  hung,  and  witches  burned, 

And  good  men  thought  to  pleasure  God 

With  whipping-post  and  scourging-rod. 

In  times  like  these  our  settler  came, 
And  left  behind  him  home  and  name  ; 
He  called  himself  John  Gates,  but  we 
Have  never  learned  his  pedigree. 
It  matters  not  ;  enough  renown 
To  be  the  Father  of  our  Town. 


Ill 

He  was  not  poor  ;  he  had  eiioui(h 
Of  worldly  raiment,  worldly  stnff, 
With  gold  and  silver  in  his  chest, 
Brought  from  afar  o'er  land  and  wave 
Nor  was  he  Abolitionist, 
For  in  the  South  he  bought  a  slave, 

A  trusty  servant,  faithful  friend, 
Who  loved  his  master  to  the  end. 
You  all  have  heard  of  ''Guinea  Joe," 
Who  would  have  been  a  settler,  too, 
If  he  had  been  a  man,  you  know  ! 

The  forest  welcomed  him  !     The  breeze 
Brought  back  the  tuneful  melodies 
His  childhood  loved  beyond  the  seas  ! 
And  blue-birds  sang,  and  blossoms  sprang 
To  cheer  the  lonely-hearted  man. 
Till  others  came  ;  then  life  b^gan 
Anew  for  the  poor  refugee 
Unsought  in  his  obscurity. 

Two  hundred  years  have  passed  away. 
Years  of  progression  and  decay  ; 
Old  names  have  vanished,  old  renown  ; 
But  the  first  settler  of  our  town 
Will  live  in  Windham  history 
While  children  learn  their  a-b-c. 
And  pious  laymen  and  divine 
Drinks  from  his  cups  the  sacred  wine. 

We  owe  this  man,  for  treasure  lent 
To  church  and  school,  a  monument. 
A  debt  of  honor  !  Townsmen  say — 
"We'll  guarantee  that  debt  to-day  !  " 


''  THE  TOWN  OF  SCOTLAND." 


[response  by  EDWIN   BAKER  GAGER.] 


Mr.  Chairman,  Ladies  and  Gentlei7ie7i: 

When  I  received  the  invitation  of  your  secretary  to  re- 
spond for  the  youngest  of  Old  Windham's  daughters,  my 
native  town  of  Scotland,  I  could  do  nothing  else  than 
comply.  In  form  only  was  it  a  request.  In  spirit  it  Avas 
imperative.  And  I  was  in  the  position  of  the  old  Puritan 
believer  in  foreordination  whom  Dr.  Twichell  told  of  at 
the  last  New  England  dinner  in  New  York.  A  certain 
thing  had  to  be  done  by  him  which  he  much  disliked  to 
do,  and  he  said,  "I  wouldn't  doit  if  I  didn't  believe  it 
had  been  foreordained  from  all  eternity,  and  I've  a  good 
mind  not  to  an^^how."  I  thought  of  the  beautiful  valley 
over  be3^ond  the  eastern  hills  and  the  kindly  spirit  of  the 
friends  over  there  who  joined  with  your  secretarj^  in  ask- 
ing me  to  answer  for  them,  and  here  I  am. 

I  have  the  j^oungest  daughter  of  this  venerable  town  to 
answer  for  and  in  this  I  am-  fortunate.  The  youngest 
daughter  is  always  the  favorite.  If  not  exceeding  large 
in  territory  or  population  nor  very  heavily  loaded  down 
with  the  material  results  which  are  the  goal  of  this  rush- 
ing, busy  age,  yet  she  is  very  fair  to  look  upon,  she  has 
an  indomitable  spirit  and  is  greatly  beloved  of  her  own  ; 
and  in  the  turn  of  fickle  Fortune's  wheel  we  look  for 
something  which  shall  lift  her  out  of  her  present  material 
languishment  and  again  adorn  her  with  those  jewels  of 
which  she  has  been  temporarily^  stripped  by  the  chance  of 
industrial  development. 


i^^^M^^rr;^^ 


J>? 


^<Jiemon/ 


o^M 


r^  as  a^entleiiido  born  la 

h  ^kncIMie  first  fetteHcr 

f*-.  -n  of  V/ijidham  hy  his' 

^latt  'WVdikTet\mienXht  gAve  aQj^ 

^generous  Legacy  To  friirstChurcl 
f^oKHlilST  InWmdlmnln  f.late^^ 
{0&  a  generous  Legacy  In  Land  for  %7^ 
(^y  Support  of  ypo.n-  ri- another:;  (-r 
^^ Legacy  for  y  Support  otp$choo\^. 
}^In  SaiflTown  for  Ever;  lie  died 


GATES  MEMORIAL  TABLET  AT  WINDHAM  CEMETERY. 


113 

If  our  town  does  not  to-day  occupy  the  relatively  high 
position  she  held  thirty  or  even  a  hundred  years  ago,  if, 
like  Hecuba,  she  sits  alone  mourning  for  her  children  who 
have  gone,  it  is  not  because  they  are  lost,  but  because  she 
has  lavished  her  strength  upon  other  communities.  In 
i860  her  population  was  something  like  one  thousand, 
now  it  is  less  than  five  hundred.  Would  you  find  them? 
Go  to  Providence,  to  Norwich,  to  Hartford;  go  far  west  to 
Nebraska,  where  is  an  entire  colony  of  Scotland  people; 
go  to  Willimantic,  come  right  to  Windham,  where  you 
have  chosen  a  Scotland  boy  for  your  secretary,  and  there 
are  the  thriving,  energetic  people  who  would  still  have  been 
within  our  borders  had  it  not  been  for  the  accident  of  rail- 
way location  and  the  absence  of  water-power;  there  is  the 
brawn  and  muscle  and  mental  power  w^hich  Scotland  has 
produced. 

From  the  migration  to  Wyoming,  way  back  in  our  his- 
tory, even  to  the  present,  we  have  sent  out  a  stream  of 
emigrants  to  other  parts  of  this  state  and  of  the  nation. 
As  a  town,  we  have  cast  our  bread  upon  the  waters  and 
we  hope  and  believe  that  after  many  days  it  will  return, 
as  it  has  already  begun  to  do  in  mafiy  of  our  country 
towns,  as  it  has  begun  to  do,  if  I  mistake  not,  here  about 
this  very  Windham  Green. 

These  epochal  celebrations  are  w^ell  worth  noting  care- 
fulh\  For  all  of  us,  3'oungest  as  well  as  oldest,  it  is 
"now  or  never."  The  "Elixir  of  Lite"  is  still  to  be 
found,  and  one  celebration  like  this  is  our  limit.  In  this 
rushing,  restless  busy  age,  our  gaze  is  so  fixed  upon  the 
present  and  immediate  future,  that  there  is  danger  lest  we 
lose  our  bearings,  that  we  become  intoxicated  by  the  mad 
whirl  of  this  era  of  steam  and  electricity.  It  is  well,  as 
we  have  done  to-day,  to  take  in  our  history  at  a  single 
glance,  to  grasp  it  as  a  whole,  to  consider  our  small  be- 
ginnings and  the  long  and  often  arduous  struggle  of  two 
hundred  years  through  which  "God  hath  brought  us  on 
our  wa3^"  Such  a  survey  tends  to  sober  us  up,  to  show 
us  what  a  slow  process  this  historical  growth  has  been, 


114 

and  that  we  should  not  be  too  proud  of  the  present,  for 
when  the  quadricentennial  of  this  old  town  is  held,  we 
with  our  celebration  here  to-day  will  seem  quite  as 
phantasmal,  quite  as  quaint  and  unreal,  as  the  few  settlers 
who  held  the  first  meeting  of  this  town  in  June,  1692,  now 
seem  to  us.  It  is  a  good  time  to  study  up  our  local  his- 
tory, to  bring  back  the  dwellers  in  the  ancient  cemeteries 
of  our  towns  and  make  the  old  times  pass  in  panoramic 
view  before  us.  This  work  has  been  done  for  us  in  the 
able  sketches  of  Mr.  Weaver  and  Mr.  Lincoln.  By  them 
these  two  hundred  years  now  gone  have  been  made  very 
real,  and  there  is  not  one  of  us  who  has  listened  to  these 
historical  sketches,  but  has  felt  his  love  for  Old  Windham 
and  for  the  parts  of  it  which  have  set  up  for  themselves 
revivified  and  strengthened. 

Speaking  for  the  inhabitants  of  Scotland  and  for  ni}^- 
self,  we  are  proud  of  the  honorable  history  of  Windham. 
We  are  proud  too  of  the  part  we  have  played  in  the  his- 
tory of  this  town.  We  do  not  wonder  that  3'OU  did  not 
wish  us  to  go,  or  that  you  compelled  us  to  ser^^e  seven, 
yes  a  dozen  times  seven  years,  before  we  got  our  freedom, 
and  even  then  we  went  without  a  dowry.  No,  not  quite 
without,  for  our  histor}^  for  a  hundred  and  fifty  years, 
though  written  with  that  of  Windham,  w^as  after  all  our 
own.  And  as  I  listen  to  Windham's  story  and  the  part 
our  town  has  played  in  it,  as  I  read  of  the  Devotions  and 
Waldos,  and  Kingsleys,  and  Robinsons,  and  Carys,  and 
Palmers,  and  Basses,  and  Huntingtons,  of  the  Webbs, 
and  Burnhams,  and  Tracys,  and  Fullers,  and  many  more 
I  might  name,  descendants  of  the  Huguenot  and  Scotch 
Presbyterian  settlers,  I  thank  the  kind  Providence  which 
led  these  men  to  follow  the  lead  of  the  Scotchman,  Isaac 
Magoon,  and  pitch  their  tents  in  the  charming  vallej^ 
named  from  the  most  picturesque  and  charming  portion  of 
the  British  Isles. 

When  we  who  have  gone  out  from  this  old,  new  town 
think  on  these  things,  surel}^  we  feel  our  hearts  within  us 
burn,  we  think  fondl}^  of  the  memories  of  our  early  days 


115 

spent  upon  its  rugged  hillsides  and  in  its  pleasant  valleys, 
we  search  to  the  ends  of  the  earth  to  find  the  whereabouts 
of  our  early  companions,  lovingly  and  reverently  we 
think  of  our  kindred  sleeping  their  last  sleep  in  its  bosom, 
and  for  those  who  remain  to  guard  the  ancient  firesides, 
we  sa}^  God  be  with  3'ou.  Make  you  keep  the  altar  fires 
of  these  old  families  burning,  may  you  live  to  see  our 
town  take  a  new  lease  of  life,  when  it  shall  again  become 
what  it  was  a  century  ago,  an  intellectual  and  a  social 
center  for  the  communities  round  about. 


'THE  YOUNGER  GENERATION." 


[RESPONSE  BY  AMOS  I^AWRENCE  HATHEWAY. 


Mr.  President^  Ladies  and  Gentlemen: — 

In  rising  so  late,  and  after  so  ample  a  literary  feast  as 
we  have  had  to-day,  I  am  reminded  of  the  story  of  the 
after-dinner  orator  who  responded  to  a  toast  very  late  in 
the  evening.  "At  this  late  hour,"  said  he,  in  a  voice  full 
of  yearning,  "after  so  full  a  measure  of  rhyme  and  reason 
has  been  meted  out  to  you,  what  can  I  say  to  you — what 
shall  I  talk  about?"  And  the  unexpected  response  came 
promptly  from  a  wearied  patriot  at  the  foot  of  the  table — 
"Talk  about  a  minute!"  I  can  almost  fancy  that  I  hear 
this  same  request  coming  up  to  me  here  now,  and  I  cannot 
but  be  brief. 

Although  I  stand  for  the  ^^ounger  generation  here  to- 
da}^  I  am  3^et  a  lover  of  old  times,  old  places,  old  faces 
and  old  memories.  Everything  that  has  power  to  win  the 
abiding  respect  and  obedience  of  men  must  have  the 
springs  of  its  being  deep  in  the  past,  and  it  seems  to  me  a 
most  fortunate  thing  for  us,  the  younger  generation  here 
represented,  that  our  lives  run  back  to  just  such  old  towns 
as  this,  with  their  accumulated  wealth  of  sacred  associa- 
tions and  clustering  memories;  and  to-day  as  old  Wind- 
ham sits  here  like  a  Queen  Mother,  garlanded  in  all  the 
leaf}^  loveliness  of  June,  and  calls  her  sons  and  daughters 
about  her  to  celebrate  her  natal  day,  I  deem  it  a  matter 
of  especial  pride  to  be  numbered  among  her  children. 

It  is  a  great  thing  for  a  township  or  a  nation  to  be  able 
to  look  back  to  a  race  of  founders  and  a  principle  of  insti- 


117 

tution  in  which  it  ma}^  see  the  realized  ideal  of  nobility. 
Scholars  have  grown  old  and  blind  in  striving  to  put  their 
hands  on  the  very  spots  where  bold  men  have  spoken  and 
brave  men  have  died ;  and  commemorations  such  as  this, 
when  the  old  traditions  are  revived,  old  friendships  ce- 
mented, and  the  noble  lives  of  our  heroic  age  held  up  in 
loving  remembrance,  are  faithful  teachers  of  the  lessons 
of  the  past.  They  are  the  ver}^  poetry  of  history,  and  we 
shall  spend  no  day  in  all  the  year  which  we  shall  devote 
to  a  higher  or  more  satisf3'ing  purpose. 

It  has  been  to  us  a  daj^  of  ennobling  retrospect.  We 
have  wiped  the  dust  from  the  urns  of  the  fathers  and  fol- 
lowed their  story  step  by  step  in  the  faithful  narration  of 
the  historians.  We  have  stood  beside  those  early  plough- 
men as  they  sowed  the  seed  with  pra^'erful  tears;  we  have 
traced  their  lines  of  glory  through  all  the  vicissitudes  of 
their  wondrous  pilgrimage  to  the  season  of  their  noble 
harvest,  and  in  the  uplift  and  inspiration  of  their  lives  of 
sacrifice  and  devotion  to  principle,  we  have  risen  to  the 
heights  of  the  sublime  faith  of  Tennyson  until  we 

"Doubt  not  through  the  ages 

One  increasing  purpose  runs. 
And  the  thoughts  of  men  are  widened 
With  the  process  of  the  suns!" 

But  such  a  day  must  not  be  given  up  to  congratulation 
and  happ3^  retrospect  alone.  In  our  admiration  of  the 
Past  w^e  must  not  forget  the  ever-living  Present,  and  that 
unhorizoned  Future — just  bej^ond. 

Are  the  traditions  ended?  Is  our  story  done?  Have 
we  heard  it  all?  We  are  sometimes  told  so!  Ever  since 
Oliver  Goldsmith  wrote  His  "Deserted  Village"  it  has 
seemed  to  be  the  fashion  to  read  in  the  tender  melancholy 
of  those  lines  to  Fair  Auburn  the  epitaph  of  the  old  New^ 
England  towns,  and  to-day  in  particular,  the  materialistic 
and  hustling  spirit  of  the  age,  devoid  of  sentiment  or  finer 
feeling,  flaunts  itself  wdth  brazen  boldness  and  tells  us 
we  are  stranded  on  the  hilltops  and  left  behind,  while  the 
great  stream  and  tide  of  the  world's  progress  rushes  by! 


118 

This,  it  seems  to  me,  is  the  narrowest,  and  shallowest, 
the  most  paltry  and  trifling  and  altogether  unworthy  ut- 
terance of  these  latter  days.  Wh}^,  Sir,  it  took  two  hun- 
dred 3^ears  of  training  in  the  hard  school  of  oppression  in 
the  old  world — from  Magna  Cliarta  down  to  Cromwell, 
and  on  to  that  fateful  night  when  the  Ma^^fiower  led  her 
"star-guided  furrow"  out  upon  the  waves  of  the  "aston- 
ished sea" — to  mould,  and  fashion,  and  temper  the  spirit 
of  the  men  who  founded  these  old  townships!  They  es- 
tablished and  vindicated  here  the  principles  of  representa- 
tive government  and  laid  deep,  and  sure,  and  for  all  time, 
the  foundations  of  a  miglit}^  state,  with  no  king  but  an 
upright  conscience,  and  upon  whose  bright  banner  was  in- 
scribed that  new  legend  of  promise  that  the  seat  of  author- 
ity should  be  in  the  breasts  of  freemen! 

The  world  know^s  their  story  all  by  heart.  Their  work 
was  nobly  conceived  and  grandly  done,  but  we  who  in- 
herit the  fruits  of  their  labors — our  work  is  but  just  begun! 

The  fathers  have  fought  the  wars,  cleared  the  forests, 
subdued  the  country  and  opened  the  way  to  this  day  of 
wonderful,  surpassing  prosperity.  Ours  are  "the  piping 
times  of  peace,"  a  day  of  great  industrial  activity.  An 
intensely  materialistic  spirit  is  rampant  among  us,  the 
whole  country  seems  to  have  spontaneously  organized  it- 
self into  a  great  modern  pilgrimage  of  *  'Jason  in  search  of 
the  golden  fleece."  Our  nation  has  followed  the  westward 
course  of  empire  until  it  has  laid  hands  on  both  oceans  and 
levied  tribute  there,  and  we  are  to-day  the  granar}^,  the 
workshop  and  the  political  hope  of  the  world!  Our  accom- 
plishments of  material  prosperity  are  stupendous  and  in- 
spiring, but  the  inevitable  responsibilities  which  go  hand 
in  hand  with  such  endowments  should  give  us  pause.  We 
should  ask  ourselves  whether  we  are  not  tending  to  be- 
come a  nation  of  men  of  one  idea,  bounding  our  horizon 
by  the  rim  of  the  almighty  dollar,  whether  we  are  not  in 
danger  of  thinking  altogether  too  much  of  tariff  and  sil- 
ver and  cotton  and  spindles,  and  too  little  of  the  bright 
ideals  on  which  our  national  life  is  founded!     There  are 


119 

feelings  dearer  than  interest.  There  is  a  consummation 
more  devoutly  to  be  wished  than  mere  material  gain! 

We  are  to-day  sixty  millions  of  people  occupying  a 
country  capable  of  sustaining  six  hundred  millions.  By 
far  the  larger  portion  of  our  people  have  no  common  an- 
cestry in  the  Revolution  or  the  early  days.  Colonists  are 
pouring  in  upon  us  from  the  states  of  the  old  world,  bring- 
ing with  them  the  languages  and  customs  and  intuitions 
of  the  Fatherland,  and  bringing  with  them  their  moss- 
grown  prejudices  and  their  political  diseases  too.  Once 
here  citizenship  is  easy — altogether  too  easy,  it  seems  to 
me,  Mr.  President — and  each  raw  immigrant  speedily  be- 
comes part  of  the  sovereign  mind  and  will.  In  the  new 
states  of  the  far  West  only  one-fifth  to  one  fourth  of  the 
citizens  are  natives,  and  this  great,  swelling  tide  of  new 
citizenship  must  be  taught  to  organize  its  communities  on 
the  basis  here  first  worked  out,  and  to  meet  every  question 
of  national  import  in  the  true  American  spirit!  In  the  so- 
lution of  the  pressing  problems  of  our  day,  the  sheet-anchor 
of  the  Ship  of  State  is  the  trained  intelligence  and  clear- 
eyed  patriotism  of  those  whose  inheritance  is  here!  The 
South  through  her  tears  and  in  the  new-born  hope  of  a 
better  da)'  looks  to  us  to  preserve  the  stately  models  of  the 
past;  the  mighty  West  sings  with  her  teeming  harvests  be- 
cause she  knows  that  here,  on  these  old  hills,  the  securi- 
ties of  conserv'atistn  go  hand  in  hand  with  the  hope  of 
progress! 

Such  then  is  the  high  privilege,  such  the  mission  and 
the  happy  duty  of  the  old  New  England  township  in  these 
latter  days — though  sketched  but  dimly.  We  are  the  near- 
est of  the  children  to  the  homes  of  the  Fathers.  To  us  it 
is  given  to  guard  their  sacred  graves,  to  bear  their  hon- 
ored names  and  to  hold  up  to  the  emulation  of  the  nation 
their  simple,  steadfast  lives! 

The  mission  of  these  old  towns  can  never  be  completely 
fulfilled  while  we  have  a  country  which  needs  to  be 
taught  their  lessons  of  faith  and  constancy  and  devotion. 
To  us  is  given  as  a  sacred  trust  the  legacy  of  those  sim- 


120 

pie,  sturdy  days  of  "high  thinking  and  plain  living,"  to 
us  the  treasuring  churchyard,  the  old  schoolhouse,  the 
old  mill,  to  us  all  the  sweet  and  tender  influences  of  those 
far-off  days,  to  us  the  sober  melody  of  the  "church  going 
bell"  and  the  "Cotter's  Saturday  night"!  Is  it  not  a 
priceless  inheritance?  Let  us  guard  it  well !  For  so,  and 
so  only,  shall  we  in  any  measure  repay  the  debt  which  the 
present  generation  owes  to  the  Future.  So  shall  conflicts 
of  material  interests  be  blended  in  happy  compromise,  and 
so,  in  the  words  of  another,  shall  "the  faith  of  the  Fathers 
and  the  kindled  imagination  of  the  Sons  unite  us  in  a 
grand  and  noble  ideal  of  the  Great  Republic." 


"hearsay; 


[response   by  CHARLES  SMITH  ABBE.] 


In  attempting  to  gather  for  oratorical  purposes  the 
minutes  of  a  period  embracing  two  centuries  of  this 
town's  history,  one  is  impressed  with  the  amount  of  dis- 
connected material  furnished  by  historical  documents. 
The  preceding  gentlemen  have  rendered  a  continuity  of 
thought  so  admirably  that  for  me  to  ask  j'-ou  over  the 
ground  again  seems  but  to  assume  the  role  of  plagiarist; 
but  there  are  links  in  the  chain  which  need  strengthening, 
so  I  beg  your  attention  for  a  little,  fully  aware  of  the 
delicate  ground  I  am  treading. 

Just  one  word  before  our  retrospect.  I  feel  it  my 
bounden  duty  to  explain  how  I  am  here,  if  I  can. 

My  first  intimation  of  this  bi-centennial  was  a  card 
mailed  me,  to  a  suburb  of  Windham  (Boston)  about  the 
23rd  of  May,  by  your  honorable  president,  asking  if  I 
would  assist  at  the  obsequies.  I  consented,  as  I  had  be- 
fore painted  and  decorated  towms,  although  not  aware  my 
reputation  was  so  national. 

Almost  immediately  upon  arrival,  I  saw  there  had  been 
an  oversight — my  name  was  not  on  the  card.  President 
Smith  had  received  ni}^  letter  of  acceptance — I  could  not 
understand  it.  I  must  get  into  print  somewhere.  I  made 
known  ni}^  desire  to  your  president ;  he  w^ould  see  what 
could  be  done.  A  few  hours  later  I  was  w^aited  on  b}' 
several  gentlemen  of  the  honorary  committee,  and  re- 
quested to  furnish  them  proof  I  was  a  descendant  of 
Old  Windham,  that  being  the  open  sesame  to  the  card. 
They  had  been  into  the  cemetery  and  copied  every  name 


122 

there, — mine  was  not  on  the  list.  I  insisted  Abbe  was 
among  the  number,  but  to  no  avaiL  I  appealed  to  them 
as  a  body — No  !  I  appealed  to  them  as  descendants — 
No  !  !  I  asked  them  to  recognize  me  as  one  who  had 
made  some  name  for  the  town  away  from  home  ;  positively, 
No  !  !  !  I  began  to  think  the  celebration  would  be  a  fail- 
ure, when  luckil}^  I  read  Mr.  William  Wales's  name.  I 
drew  him  aside  and  said,  "Mr.  Wales,  you  have  known 
me  from  the  time  of  Moses  ;  can  you  honestly  say  my 
name  vShould  not  be  on  that  list  ?  ' ' 

"Charlie,"  said  he,  "I  admit  that  you  are  one  of  us, 
but  I've  heard  say  one  of  your  ancestors  stole  a  sheep 
from  the  minister,  took  it  the  next  morning  to  him  and 
tried  to  pay  his  church  tax  with  it,  so  of  course  I  could 
not  consent  to  have  such  occurrences  brought  to  light  by 
people  discovering  the  name  Abbe  on  the  card,  especially 
among  the  honorary  committee," 

I  then  tried  the  reception  committee, — they  knew  the 
story  ;  also  the  finance  committee.  I  almost  succeeded  in 
getting  in  there,  but  at  the  last  moment  Mr.  H.  Hatch 
said  he'd  "rather  give  five  dollars  than  have  my  name 
with  his' n."  So  I  moved  on.  The  programme  commit- 
tee— Well,  I  had  some  choice — I  didn't  care  to  be  with 
them.  The  collation  committee  I  am  sorry  I  ever  saw. 
The  relic  committee — here  is  where  I  do  get  in,  for  surely 
I  can  prove  I  am  a  relic.  I  saw  the  lady  and  gentlemen 
relics,  and  said,  "Allow  me  to  enter  3-our  body,  I  am  Mr. 
Charles  Abbe.  I — I — ,"  "Yes,  yes,  that  is  all  an  old 
stor}^  by  what  proof  do  you  support  your  desire  to  become 
one  of  us?"  I  said,  "Allow  me  to  ask  in  return,  how 
does,  w^ell,  say  Mr.  Guilford  Smith,  support  his  claim?" 
They  answered,  "Why  he  is  one  of  the  best  preserved 
relics  we  have,  being  loaned  us  by  the  Smithsonian  In- 
stitute at  Washington,  D.  C,"  etc.,  etc.,  till  finally  I 
gave  up  trying  to  prove  I  was  even  a  relic. 

So  I  enter  your  midst  under  my  own  head,  "Amusement 
Committee"  entire,  and  call  my  subject  "Hearsay,"  for 
this  reason:   I  gleaned  my  information  from  a  gentleman 


123 

whose  name  you  are  all  familiar  with,  but  whose  personal 
acquaintance  extended  to  onl}^  the  four  hundred  of  Wind- 
ham's oldest  families.     I  refer  to  Mr.  John  Gates. 

My  great,  great,  grandfather — I  omit  two  adjectives 
for  all  my  Grandpa  Abbes  were  great, — had  a  formal  ac- 
quaintance with  John  Gates,  but  I  think  no  one  was 
chummy  enough  with  Johnnie  to  swap  stories  as  I  did  ert 
roide  here  this  morning.     It  came  about  this  way  : 

I  started  at  2  a.  m.,  knowing  how  limited  would  be  ac- 
commodations, but  at  the  next  similar  celebration  I  shall 
start  even  earlier,  as  there  must  have  been  some*  who 
didn't  go  to  bed  at  all  ;  for  upon  arrival  I  found  every 
seat  taken,  and  [looking  at  watch]  I've  been  standing  all 
this  time. 

To  resume,  as  I  crossed  the  New  London  Northern 
tracks,  I  was  accosted  by  a  person  of  singular  mien,  pale 
and  haggard,  dressed  in  Puritanical  costume,  high  conical 
wide-brimmed  hat,  long  cloak,  under  which  I  discerned, 
collar  and  cuffs,  brown  jacket,  knee  breeches,  broad  shoes, 
with  buckles,  and  who  said,  "Illustrious  stranger,  art 
travelling  far?" 

"Less  than  a  league,  and  would  be  pleased  to  have 
company  to  3^onder  town."  Before  we  crossed  the  Hart- 
ford track  he  had  said,  "Bless  me,  how  things  change," 
seven  times,  and  then  in  a  tone  of  perfect  politeness  he 
continued  in  words  and  manner  of  a  by-gone  age,  but 
which  for  brevity  and  diction  I  will  deliver  modern. 

"I  am  the  original  John  Gates.  I  came  here  from  Nor- 
wich. I  slept  in  my  cave  till  an  hour  ago,  when  my  col- 
ored man,  Joe  Ginne,  informed  me  it  was  time  to  be  on 
the  move  if  I  wished  to  get  a  seat." 

"My  reason  also," — I  interrupted. 

"Indeed,"  said  he,  "I  am  bound  for  the  Hither  Place, 
I  settled  there  in  1688." 

Taking  care  to  note  that  he  had  thoroughly  finished,  I 
said,  "I  am  the  original  Gharles  Smith  Abbe.  I  came 
here  from  Boston.  I  slept  in  a  brass  bedstead  'till  an 
hour  ago,  when[^my>lectric  clock  told  me  I  was  to   be  on 


124 

the  move!     I  am  bound  for  the  Hither  Place.     You  set- 
tled it  in  1688;  well,  Pvi  going  to  settle  it  to-day  f' 

We  rode  as  far  as  the  brick  house  with  Mr.  John  Stani- 
ford,  when  Mr.  Gates  suggested  we  were  early  enough  to 
walk,  and  that  he  would  enliven  the  time  with  stories.  I 
consented  also,  and  we  alighted. 

"Let  us  pause  here  until  I  recover  m}^  bearings,"  said 
he.  "Ah,  yes,  there  is  Lot  No.  i,  owned  by  John  Mason. 
In  1730  this  lot  passed  into  the  possession  of  the  Abbe 
family,  and  was  the  homestead  of  one  of  the  most  noted  of 
the  families  of  old  Windham."  [I  quote  from  Mr.  Weav- 
er's history  for  the  benefit  of  the  honorary  committee,  who 
attempted  to  socially  ostracise  me.]  "Lot  No.  2  Hugh 
Calkins  owned.  Jonathan  Crane  bought  that.  Lot  No. 
3,  I  bought  of  Daniel  Mason.  When  I  took  it  the  land 
was  poor,  but  I  labored  early  and  late,  and  had  the  satis- 
faction of  getting  a  good  yield.  One  year  in  particular,  I 
remember,  I  pulled  up  a  single  beet  and  bricked  up  the 
hole  for  a  well.  Another  summer  I  had  Joe  out  all  night 
watching  squashes— the  vines  grew  so  fast  they  would 
wear  the  squash  all   away  dragging  it  over  the  ground." 

"Pardon  me,"  I  interrupted — "but  do  you  remember, 
Mr.  Cates,  whether  in  that  translation  of  the  Bible  issued 
during  the  reign  of  that  most  gracious  sovereign  King 
James,  any  mention  was  made  of  the  fate  of  Ananias?" 

I  think  I  have  before  remarked  that  Mr.  Cates  and  I 
were  chummy,  but  at  this  point  Mr.  Cates's  stories  seemed 
to  be  illustrating  the  saying,  "Young  men  think  the  old 
ones  are  fools,  but  the  old  men  know  the  young  ones  are." 

"The  Rev.  Samuel  Whiting,  Windham's  first  minis- 
ter," Mr.  Cates  continued,  "whose  residence  was  near  the 
Green,  once  told  me  of  a  most  amusing  mistake  he  made 
on  the  second  day  of  his  arrival  in  the  Colonj^  The  two 
Mason  families  had  met  with  a  loss  at  the  same  time,  but 
of  much  difference  in  character.  One  had  lost  an  old 
family  horse,  the  other  the  husband  and  father.  Mr. 
Whiting  knew  of  the  decease  of  the  husband,  but  not  of 
the  horse. 


125 

"As  he  informed  me,  newly  settled  here,  and  over 
anxious  to  perform  his  consoling  duty,  he  called  on  the 
family  who  had  lost  the  horse,  supposing  all  the  while  he 
was  with  the  bereaved  ones.  The  lady  of  the  house  re- 
ceived the  new  minister  with  great  cordiality,  highly 
pleased  with  the  honor  of  the  first  call;  and  encouraged 
by  his  welcome,  our  reverend,  after  the  usual  formal  sal- 
utations, said: 

"  'Sister,  my  condolence  is  yours,  you  have  certainly  met 
with  a  great  loss,  but  I  trust  you  will  not  be  utterly  cast 
down/ 

"  'Yes,  indeed,  I  have;  he  was  so  faithful  and  trustwor- 
thy, and  if  I  do  say  it,  there  wasn't  a  better  one  in  the 
place.' 

"'So  I've  heard,  and  so  regular  in  his  attendance  at 
church.' 

"  'Yes,  I  drove  him  to  church  nearly  every  Sunday.' 

"  'Drove  him!  I  beg  your  pardon,  I  supposed  he  would 
attend  of  his  own  accord,  without  being  driven.' 

"  'Well,  of  late  years  I  never  took  the  whip  to  him,  for 
he  was  not  so  lively  as  he  used  to  be,  in  fact,  no  one  could 
ever  call  him  fast.' 

"Our  minister  could  not  laugh  at  this  grim  joke.  He 
started  to  say,  'Madam,  I — '  but  she  broke  in  w^ith,  'It 
w^asn't  often,  but  sometimes,  old  as  he  was,  he  got  frisky, 
and  then  I'd  have  to  curb  him.' 

"  'I  have  heard  him  spoken  of  as  the  patient  mart^'r.' 

"  'Patient?  Yes,  but  there  w^ere  times  when  the  colt 
would  crop  out  in  him,  and  then  I'd  have  to  cut  down 
his  feed,  and  he  would  soon  come  to  time.' 

"'What  a  Xantippe  I  am  dealing  with,'  thought  our 
reverend,  but  he  onl}-  said,  'Madam,  it  is  the  way  of  all 
that  has  life.'  But  our  sister  broke  in  with, — 'But  withal 
he  was  so  gentle  and  kind,  his  good  qualities  outweighed 
his  faults;  I  felt  I  must  keep  him  for  the  good  he  had 
done.' 

"  'Keep  him!     Good  he  had  done!  ' 

"  'Some  of  my  friends  advised  me  to  get  rid  of  him,  for 
he  was  considerable  trouble  and  expense.' 


126 

"Mr.  Whiting  was  so  nonplUvSsed,  he  could  only  stutter, 
'Death  must  have  been  a  welcome  release.' 

"  'Oh,  3^es,  of  course,  and  it  might  have  been  a  mercy 
if  he  had  died  younger.' 

"  'What!' 

"But  the  sister  capped  the  climax  when  she  said,  'Now 
that  he  is  gone  I  miss  him;  anything  that  has  come  into 
our  lives,  a  care,  we  miss,  but  I  can  find  another,  and 
possibly  one  that  will  be  of  more  service  to  me.' 

"  'More  service  to  you!  Madam,  your  depravity  appalls 
me!  How  you  can  sit  there  and  speak  so  of  one  hardh^ 
cold  in  his  grave  is  past  my  comprehension.  It  seems 
you  need  no  consolation  for  the  death  of    j^our  husband.' 

"'Husband!  Who  said  anything  about  my  husband? 
I've  been  talking  about  old  Dobbin,  a  horse  we've  had 
since  we  came  to  Windham.' 

"Mutual  explanations  followed,  and  the  madam  and  the 
Reverend  Mr.  Whiting  were  fast  friends  for  life." 

"Mr.  Gates,  is  there  any  truth  to  what  you've  been  tell- 
ing?" 

"Well,"  and  his  eyes  glistened  with  laughter,  "I've 
heard  say." 

"Mr.  Gates,"  I  said,  "for  a  man  of  your  years  this  walk 
and  the  stories  must  be  using  3^ou  up.  They  are  me. 
And  now  that  we  have  reached  the  Green,  let  me  speak  of 
the  Windham  of  modern  times.  The  street  intersecting 
the  one  we  came  on,  or  as  3^ou  know  it  'Nipmuck  Path', 
is  the  old  Stage  coach  thoroughfare  from  Boston  to  Hart- 
ford. I  said  modern  times,  yes,  for  aside  from  the  unlim- 
ited power  of  electricity  we  have  progressed  from  the 
Indian's  trail  to  the  stage  coach  propelled  by  the  horse,  to 
the  locomotive  b}'  steam,  'till  now%  with  this  new  power  in 
its  infancy,  when  by  a  single  strand  of  wire,  we  are  able 
to  travel  a  mile  a  minute:  and  if  we  both  attend  the  next 
bi-cententennial,  we  shall  probabh-  be  able  to  come  here 
by  the  air  line. 

"So  in  smaller,  or  shall  I  sa}',  larger  scope,  we  see  the 
advance  of  the  town. 

"Fifty  3"ears  ago   there  were   fourteen  stores  facing  this 


127 

Green;  to-day  all  swallowed  up  in  that  modern  idea,  the 
S3mdicate,  controlled  in  this  instance  bj'  Mr.  Chester 
Woodworth  ! 

"The  churches,  in  1820  Windham  had  three,  but  their 
work  was  so  efficacious,  their  revivals  so  complete,  tlieir 
action  so  harmonious,  that  to-day  we  have  only  one  open 
regularly,  and  it  is  expected  by  another  Christmas,  even 
that  will  be  closed,  and  we  can  then  rely  wholly  upon  the 
Sunday''  papers, 

"And  now  Mr.  Cates," — Ladies  and  Gentlemen,  as  I 
seem  to  have  lost  Mr.  Cates, — we  are  congregated  here 
upon  the  Hub  of  Windham  on  this  occasion.  Our  closing 
thought  is  of  this  Hub,  this  old  Green,  this  Windham 
Green.  If  it  could  speak  it  could  tell  more  stories  than 
Mr.  John  Cates.  It  might  saj^  "I  have  seen  the  time  of 
the  Indian,  the  Puritan,  the  reverend  father,  the  bull-frog 
fright,  the  excitement  over  the  stamp  act,  Bunker  Hill, 
marching  of  the  men  to  Boston,  Parson  Wliite  and  his 
daughter's  gift,  celebration  of  the  independence  of  the  col- 
onies, Washington's  death,  events  of  the  War  of  181 2, 
War  w^ith  Mexico,  barbecues,  Thanksgiving  shooting 
matches,  where  the  participants  left  the  field  in  a  condi- 
tion best  expressed  by  that  line  of  Longfellow's,  "Oh  lit- 
tle feet  I'm  w^eary,  thinking  of  your  load";  the  Bank  rob- 
bery, the  call  to  arms  in  '61,  Emancipation  proclamation, 
Lincoln's  assassination,  peace  again,  and  now  this,  the 
latest  public  occasion. 

I  spoke  in  the  beginning  of  the  links  which  needed 
strengthening.  I  am  one  of  those  links,  we  are  all  links 
in  that  chain,  which  at  the  end  has  the  anchor,  Windham. 
We  need  such  occasions  as  this  to  strengthen  our  love, 
and  bind  our  hearts  together,  and  after  we  have  had  com- 
munion together,  what  more  fitting  than  that  Windham, 
Old  Windham  in  her  gray  hairs,  should  have  the  last  word; 

"Listen!  children  all,  sons  and  daughters  of  those  gone 
before; 

I  sav  to  vou  as  I  said  to  them: 


128 

"In  youth  I  fostered  you,  in  manhood  I  applauded  you; 

In  age  I  say  to  you,  grow  old  along  with  me; 
The  best  is  yet  to  be, 

The  last  of  life  for  which  the  first  was  made: 
Our  times  are  in  His  hands  who  saith,  'The  whole  I  planned 

Youth  shows  but  half;  trust  God;  see  all,  nor  be  afraid.'  ' 


WILLIMANTIC  IN  EIGHTEEN  FIFTY. 


[Compiled   by  Allen   B.  Lincoln   for  the  Bi-Centennial  but  not  read  tor  lacK  of 
time,  and  now  published  by  request  of  the  Committee.] 


I  wish  to  give  you  a  picture  of  Willimantic  as  it  was 
about  the  year  1850,  at  the  height  of  its  growth  and 
prosperity  as  a' 'Factory  village,"  at  the  beginnings  of  the 
days  of  the  railroad,  and  showing  the  foundations  on  which 
the  present  growth  to  extensive  manufacturing,  and  the 
beginnings  of  an  educational  center,  has  been  reared. 
Follow  me  w4th  your  mind  on  the  Willimantic  of  to-day, 
and  you  will  get  a  comparative  picture  of  great  interest. 
I  do  not  lay  claim  to  accurac}^  but  the  picture  is  approxi- 
mately correct,  as  to  the  chief  features  and  families  of  the 
town  at  that  date.  I  am  indebted  chiefly  to  General 
Lloyd  K.  Baldwin  for  information. 

At  the  west  end,  stood  the  Windham  Company's  mills 
and  store  substantially  as  they  are  now,  with  the  "Savings 
Institute"  in  the  second  story  of  the  store  building;  and 
the  six  houses  of  the  "Yellow  row"  beyond,  and  the 
"White  row""  on  Main  street  opposite.  Just  west  of  the 
store  on  Main  street  stood  Agent  A.  C.  Tingley's  resi- 
dence, a  pretentious  mansion  in  those  daj^s,  now  the  home 
of  Agent  Thomas  C.  Chandler.  North-east  of  "White 
Row,"  and  near  the  present  site,  stood  the  First  district 
school  house.  Away  at  the  west  end,  as  now^  stood  alone 
in  the  wilderness  the  Hardin  Fitch  place,  occupied  then 
as  now  by  him,  and  one  of  the  oldest  houses,  if  not  the 
oldest,  in  town.  Between  the  "White  row"  and  the  Har- 
din Fitch  place  there  were  scattered  a  dozen  or  fifteen 
houses,  among  which  were  the  residences  of  Deacon  D. 


130 

Terry,  occupied  now  as  then  by  him;  opposite  him  lived 
William  H.  Cranston,  in  the  house  now  occupied  by  his 
grandson,  Allen  L.  Cranston  ;  next  east  on  the  corner  of 
HooDcr's  Lane  (now  Winter  street)  lived  Harry  Boss;  a 
few  rods  east  lived  Warren  At  wood,  and  nearly  opposite 
from  him,  in  the  house  now  the  second  east  of  Mansfield 
avenue,  lived  Dr.  Asahel  Tarbox. 

Over  the  river,  at  the  west  end  of  what  is  now  Pleasant 
street,  was  the  principal  residence  district.  Then 
as  now  the  first  house  eavSt  of  '"Card  Road,"  stood 
the  spacious  white  mansion  of  Stephen  Hosmer, 
afterwards  the  home  of  William  H.  Hosmer,  his  son,  and 
of  James  Martin,  "the  old  sexton."  At  what  is  now  the 
northwest  corner  of  Bridge  and  Pleasant  streets,  stood  the 
toll  gate,  which  even  in  1850  had  fallen  into  "innocuous 
desuetude,"  but  w^hose  old  red  toll-house  has  been  torn 
down  within  onh'  a  few  3'ears  past,  and  its  ruined 
foundations  are  still  to  be  seen.  About  opposite  the  toll- 
house lived  Thomas  Jordan,  brother  of  Lyman,  in  the 
house  now  modernized  and  occupied  by  George  Tif- 
fany. Elisha  Burnham  lived  where  his  son  Abel  now 
lives,  and  Ralph  Williams  lived  in  the  house  now  occu- 
pied b}^  Samuel  G.  Adams.  Further  dowm  Pleasant 
street  w^as  the  James  D.  Hosmer  residence,  still  occupied 
by  his  daughter;  then  the  home  of  Fred  Campbell,  now^ 
occupied  b}^  Conductor  Edward  Stone;  then  the  home  of 
General  L.  E.  Baldwin,  now  occupied  by  E.  F.  Reed. 
Next  came  William  Morrison's  little  brick  house,  also 
still  standing,  and  occupied  to-da}^  by  James  N.  Bailey. 

Down  on  the  main  road  towards  the  bridge  (Bridge 
street)  came  the  house  built  by  George  W.  Manahan,  oc- 
cupied later  by  the  Rev.  Samuel  G.  Willard,  and  then  b}^ 
Chauncey  Turner,  the  present  occupant ;  then  the  old 
"Eagle  house,"  built  by  William  Porter  in  1833,  and 
afterwards  occupied  successively  by  Jefferson  Campbell, 
and  his  brother,  Thomas  Campbell,  the  latter  djdng 
there  ;  and  next  north  Miss  Sarah  Porter's  place, 
now     occupied   by     William     C.    Cargell.      The     street 


131 

has  been  much  cut  down,  as  plainl}-  appears.  On 
what  is  now  River  street  stood  first  on  the  south  side  the 
Stephen  Bromley  place,  and  all  the  houses  on  that  side 
now  occupied  by  the  King  family,  Alonzo  Green,  Judge 
Wheeler  and  George  B.  McCracken,  and  on  the  other 
side  of  the  street,  as  now,  lived  Ira  Sweetland,  and  also 
the  late  Deacon  Luther  Martin  of  the  M.  E.  Church. 

From  the  junction  of  River  and  Pleasant  streets  east 
there  was  then  no  house  until  we  reach  that  now  occupied 
by  Lawyer  John  L.  Hunter,  then  next  east  was  Deacon 
A.  H.  Fuller's  home,  now  occupied  by  his  widow  and 
after  her  bequeathed  to  become  the  Baptist  parsonage;  Ed- 
win H.  Hall  lived  next  east  in  the  house  lately  sold  to  E. 
S.  Page  by  George  Lincoln  ;  opposite  stood  then  as  now 
the  Alfred  Youngs  place ;  then  no  house  to  the  east 
until  w^e  reach  w^hat  is  now  the  "boarding  house"  on  the 
high  knoll,  and  which  in  1850  was  the  spacious  residence 
of  Asa  Jillson.  Next  east  w^as  the  Joseph  C.  Bassett 
place,  then  as  now^  occupied  by  him;  next  east  the  home 
of  Josiah  Dean,  Jr.;  then  the  old  Hebard  tavern,  now  a 
tenement  house  ;  nearly  opposite  was  the  residence  of  Col. 
William  Jillson,  now  occupied  by  his  son,  William  C. 
Jillson  ;  then  diagonall}^  southeast  across  the  street,  as 
now,  the  Tingle}^  house,  and  next  east  the  house  of  Law- 
yer Joel  R.  Arnold,  now  occupied  b3^  Charles  R.  Utle3^ 
Next  on  the  north  side  came  the  house  of  Col.  Roswell 
Moulton,  where  now  his  son  John  H.  Moulton  lives.  Next 
east  of  him  dwelt  Ulysses  Young  then,  and  now  his  widow. 

Nearl}^  opposite,  and  next  east  of  Judge  John  M.  Hall's 
present  residence,  and  where  now^  Superintendent  John 
Scott  of  the  Linen  Company  lives,  dwelt  in  1850  Seth 
Jillson,  and  later  Allen  B.  Burleson.  Then  the  turnpike 
stretched  away  towards  Old  Windham,  with  the  Anson 
Young  place,  then  a  small  red  house  (now  supplanted  by 
a  large  double  frame  dwelling),  and  the  Josiah  Dean 
(now  Earl  Cranston's)  place,  and  the  Deacon  Eleazer 
Bill  place,  in  recent  3^ears  known  as  the  "Maple  House," 
between  Willimantic's  outskirts  and  Natchaug  river  on 


132 

the  Windham  road; — so  it  appears  that  this  region  has  not 
changed  much  since   1850. 

Now  let  us  return  to  the  west  end,  and  start  with  the 
Smithville  Company's  mills,  which  were  flourishing  in 
1850,  with  their  stone  row  alongside  the  railway  track,  and 
the  white  row  on  south  side  of  Main  street  and  the  two 
houses  built  by  Deacon  Lee.  On  the  corner  of  Main  and 
what  is  now  Bridge  street  stood  their  supply  store,  in  the 
basement  of  the  building,  to-day  unoccupied,  but  the  main 
portion  of  the  building  was  then  as  now,  a  boarding  or 
tenement  house.  West  of  what  is  now  Carpenter  Bros.,  in 
"School  House  Lane,"  dwelt  Israel  Robinson,  next  east 
"Aunt  Lucy  Crane,"  and  about  on  the  present  site  of 
Carpenters'  store  was  the  house  of  Robert  Prentice  ;  then 
came  the  house  of  Azariah  Lathrop,  with  Laban  Chase's 
shoe  store  in  the  basement. 

On  the  northwest  corner  of  Main  and  High  Streets  dwelt 
Laban  Chase,  in  the  house  now  there  standing.  On  the 
opposite  corner  of  High  street  was  the  Elias  Rathburn 
place,  later  known  as  the  home  of  Dr.  William  Witter,  the 
first  long-resident  ph3^sician  of  Willimantic.  High  street 
w^as  open  at  this  time.  Robert  Hooper's  house  was  the 
first  one  built  on  that  street  and  was  then  as  now  occupied 
by  him.  Next  south  of  him  Wightman  Williams  lived, 
in  the  house  now  owned  and  occupied  by  Edmund  Crane. 
Egbert  Hall  and  later  Samuel  B.  Ford  and  Courtland 
Babcock  lived  successively  in  the  house  lately  bought  and 
remodelled  by  Robert  Truscott.  James  Sterry  lived  in 
in  the  little  house  opposite  Robert  Hooper's,  and  George 
P.  Heap,  afterwards  husband  of  Mrs.  Kellogg  of  Heap 
will  fame,  built  and  occupied  the  house  lately  vacated  by 
Giles  H.  Alford,  northeast  corner  of  Valley  and  High 
streets. 

Returning  now  on  Main  street,  next  below  the  Rathburn 
or  Witter  place  on  the  site  of  the  present  Levi  Frink  block, 
but  in  the  cottage  now  standing  rear  of  Frink's  block, 
dwelt  Nathan  Fish,  father  of  Angeline  Fish,  who  lately 
died  at  the  age  of  eighty  years  or  more.  Next  dwelt  William 


138 

F.  Essex,  in  the  house  which  stood  on  the  site  where 
Farley's  new  building  is  now  going  up.  Next  was 
the  Nathan  Hall  place,  a  brick  block  now  occupied  for 
stores  beneath  and  tenements  above,  and  which  in  1850 
was  occupied  for  a  short  time  by  Parson  Willard  and 
wife  of  the  Congregational  church.  Then  came  the 
Thomas  Cunningham  residence,  that  large  white  building 
occupied  in  recent  years  by  Archambeault's  store  beneath 
and  tenements  above  ;  and  next  east  of  this,  near  what 
is  now  the  Walnut  street  corner,  stood  in  1850  Thomas 
Cunningham's  grog  shop.  There  was  then  no  Walnut 
street,  and  all  north  of  Main  street  in  this  section  was 
meadow  and  forest. 

Then  a  few  rods  east  again  stood  the  first   Dr.   Witter 
place,  built  for  him  in  1831,  but  in  1850  and  until  his  death 
in  1885  the  home  of  Horace  Hall,  for  many  years  a  leading 
citizen  and  father  of  his  honor.  Judge  John  M.  Hall  of 
to-day.     The  house  is  now  occupied  by  John  M.  Gray,  the 
bill  poster.     Next  stood  the  little^'Harrington  house  on  the 
site  of  Thomas  Haran's  new  block.     Then  Niles  Potter's 
hotel,  called  then  the  Tremont  house,  now  Young's  hotel. 
Let  us  cross  now  to  the  south  side,  and  just  opposite 
Potter's    hotel   was    Stephen-  Kimbel's   house,    (now    re- 
placed b}^  the  new  Kimbel  block)    and    in  the  little  one- 
story  addition  to  his  house  Stephen  Kimbel  sat    for  man}- 
years  as  the  village  shoe-maker.     The  old  building  next 
east  now  occupied  as  a  saloon  was  then  a  store,  and  occu- 
pied at  times  bj'  different  parties,  of  whom  John  G.  Keig- 
win  was  one,  he  having  begun  the  clothing  business  there. 
Next  east  was  the  old  Congregational  Church,  now  re- 
modelled into  Melone3^'s  block;  then  came  George  C.  Elli- 
ott's house  and  tailor  shop   and  the  famous  little  twin- 
buildings,  on  the  sites  now  occupied  by  the  Arnold  and 
Chapman  blocks  respectively.       Then  the  old  Franklin 
building,  a  large  frame  structure,  the  first  public  building 
in   Willimantic,    built  by  Gen.    Baldwin  in   1847   and  in 
1850  occupied  by  William  L.   Weaver's  book-store,  L.  & 
H.   Feldman's  dry  goods  house  (afterwards  Alpaugh  and 


134 

Hooper's);  and  Lawyers  Joel  R.  Arnold  and  Jairus  H. 
Carpenter  had  offices  in  the  second  story,  while  in  the 
third  was  a  hall  for  public  gatherings.  East  of  the  Frank- 
lin building  there  was  in  1850  nothing  south  of  Main 
street  but  an  alder  swamp  (save  the  old  brick  depot  of 
dingy  memory  which  stood  about  fifty  feet  south  of  the 
present  station)  until  you  came  to  the  "old  stone  row'* 
of  tenement  houses  belonging  to  the  Jillson  mill,  and 
which  then  stood  near  the  river  shore  a  few  rods  south- 
west of  the  present  Main  street  railway  crossing.  There 
was  no  broad  Railroad  street  then  —  only  a  lane  to  the  de- 
pot in  the  swamp! 

Returning  to  the  Potter  hotel  (now  Young's  hotel),  the 
building  next  east,  on  the  north  side  of  the  street,  was  a 
little  shop  on  the  site  of  the  present  Hooker  house,  built 
by  Albert  Sherman,  "gentleman  fashioner,"  as  his  sign 
read,  and  afterwards  occupied  by  General  Baldwin  with 
the  post  office.  Bank  street  was  not  thought  of  and  all  back 
of  it  was  swamp  near  b}^  and  forest  in  the  distance.  Jairus 
Littlefield's  house  stood  where  the  Savings  Institute  now  is; 
then  Mrs.  Lavinia  Loomis's  house,  where  the  United  Bank 
Building  now  is;  then  the  house  occupied  now  as  then  b}^ 
Melancthon  Turner,  and  the  late  Isaac  Wilson,  with  the 
livery  stable  in  the  rear  as  now.  The  old  William  C. 
Boon  place,  (now  Dr.  Card's  Block)  came  next,  and  then, 
on  the  site  of  the  present  opera  house,  stood  the  junior 
Chester  Tilden's  little  candy  and  fruit  shop,  right  on  the 
corner  of  Main  street  and  Tanner's  lane,  (now  North 
street);  and  high  up  on  the  bank,  behind  the  little  shop, 
stood  the  senior  (Rev.)  Chester  Tilden's  dwelling  house. 
Tanner's  lane  led  up  a  sharp  hill  and  then  down  again  to 
the  old  slaughterhouse,  which  then  stood  where  Johnson's 
livery  stable  now  is,  and  a  part  of  which  was  afterwards 
worked  into  the  building  of  Warren  Tanner's  (now  John- 
son's) livery.  Across  the  lane  from  Chester  Tilden's 
stood  the  dwelling  house  built  by  Samuel  Barrows  in  1828 
and  in  1850  owned  by  General  Baldwin,  afterwards  bought 
by  Warren  Tanner  and  gradually  enlarged  to  the  present 


135 

Tanner  Block.  Then  came  Dr.  Jason  Safford's  drug  store 
in  a  little  building  afterwards  enlarged  by  L.  J.  Fuller  and 
Son  to  its  present  size,  and  where  Frank  Wilson  and  Com- 
pany's Pharmacy,  in  direct  line  of  succession,  still  dispen- 
ses drugs  as  did  Dr.  Safford  of  old,  and  his  predecessors 
Messrs.  Alfred  Howes,  John  A.  Perkins  and  Newton 
Fitch,  the  last  named  of  whom  founded  the  store  in  1828. 

Next  stood  the  original  M.  E.  church,  which  about  this 
time  was  removed  to  Church  street  and  became  the  old 
Christian  boarding  house,  lately  supplanted  by  Johnsons' 
new^  block  now^  occupied  by  Perkins  and  Blish;  and  the 
old  church  site  on  Main  street  was  soon  occupied  by  the 
Atwood  Block  built  b}^  Warren  Atwood;  and  in  1850  the 
new  M.  E.  Church  was  built,  on  the  present  site  on 
Church  street,  thus   giving  the  street  its  name. 

Next  east  of  the  old  church  on  Main  street,  stood  the 
building  now  known  as  the  Brainard  house,  the  main  part 
of  which  was  built  b}^  Sheffield  Lewis  in  1848,  and  was  in 
1850  occupied  by  stores  and  for  tenements,  but  was  soon 
afterwards  bought  by  Henry  Brainard  and  by  him  made 
into  a  hotel  bearing  the  present  name.  Next  east  of  the 
Lewis  (now  Brainard)  building,  the  corner  lot  (present 
site  of  the  "Windham"  hotel)  w^as  then  vacant,  and  on 
the  site  of  the  present  Commercial  Block  stood  the  man- 
sion of  Joshua  B.  Lord; — the  house  has  since  been  removed 
and  is  now  standing  on  Turner  street  opposite  James  Wal- 
den's  residence. 

I  well  remember  that  old  Lord  mansion.  It  stood  well 
back  from  the  street,  with  portico  and  bay  windows,  mar- 
vellous luxuries  for  those  days,  and  in  front  was  a  lawm 
varied  b}^  shrubbery  and  flower  beds,  w^hile  along  the 
street  line  was  a  handsome  hedge,  the  whole  making  a 
picture  to  ni}^  childish  eyes  w^hich  only  the  word  "gran- 
deur" could  adequately  convey.  Here  dwelt  Marian  Lord, 
the  sole  heiress  of  her  father's  (Daniel  Lord's)  score  or  more 
of  thousands,  and  she  died  on  what  was  to  have  been  her 
wedding  day,  at  the  age  of  eighteen,  and  they  buried  her 
with  her  diamond  ring  on.     Her  father  had   died  some 


136 

time  before,  and  her  broken-hearted  grandmother,  Eunice 
Richmond  Kellogg,  her  nearest  of  kin,  sought  legal  advice 
to  retain  as  a  keepsake  a  fine  old  lace  shawl  which  she 
and  Marian  had  worn  together,  but  w^hich  other  claimants 
to  the  estate  had  taken,  with  all  the  rest  of  the  property. 
Mrs.  Kellogg  found  that  she  was  the  rightful  heir,  not  onl}^ 
to  the  shawl  keepsake,  but  to  all  of  Marian's  property, 
and  she  thus  came  into  possession  of  it.  In  after  years  she 
married  George  P,  Heap,  the  English  tailor;  and  after  his 
death  E.  McCall  Cushman  became  her  advisor,  counsellor 
and  triend,  and  she  finally  left  to  him  the  property,  w^hich 
by  the  accidents  of  death  had  been  diverted  from  the  Lord 
line,  that  accumulated  it,  to  entirely  foreign  channels. 
Hence  arose  the  famous  Heap  will  case,  or  Richmond's 
appeal  from  probate,  so  lately  "settled  out  of  court," 
after  two  fruitless  trials. 

Next  east  of  the  Lord  mansion  stood  the  Baptist  church, 
on  its  present  site.  Then  came  the  Hanover  block,  still 
standing,  and  where  in  1850  George  W.  Hanover  and 
Thomas  Turner  carried  on  the  milliner}^  and  dr}^  goods 
business,  and  manufactured  hoop-skirts.  Later  Mrs. 
Hanover  conducted  the  business,  calling  her  place 
the  "Temple  of  Fashion;"  hence  the  name  of  Temple 
street.  Then  came  the  James  Howes  place,  now^  remod- 
eled into  the  double-verandahed  dwelling  house  on  the 
corner  of  Union  and  Center  streets. 

At  the  junction  of  Main  and  Union  streets,  where  now 
stands  the  Cushman  block,  there  stood  about  1850  a  small 
shop. 

About  opposite  the  Hanover  building  on  Union  street 
stood  Dr.  William  K.  Otis's  little  office  building,  where 
patients  sought  him  for  man}-  3^ears;  and  the  same  build- 
ing may  be  found  standing  to-day  on  the  southw^est  corner 
of  Temple  and  Valley  streets.  Next  beyond  Dr.  Otis's 
office  was  a  stretch  of  grass  land  to  the  old  Fitch  house, 
to-day  standing  as  the  big  and  dingy  white  tenement 
house  opposite  A.  B.  Adams's  ;  then  came  the  Cushman 
residence,  now  owned  as  a   tenement  by  Durkee,  Stiles  & 


137 

Co.,  but  then  the  home  of  J.  E.  Cushman,  who  lias  now 
removed  to  California. 

A  few  rods  to  the  east  of  Mr.  Cushman's  stood  the  stone 
mansion  of  William  Jillson,  standing  to-day  just  north  of 
the  Main  street  railroad  crossing,  and  then  called  one  of 
the  finest  residences  in  towm.  Next  east  of  the  Howes 
place  on  Union  street  \vas  a  stretch  of  meadow  to  the 
house  now  occupied  by  Mrs.  Vilatia  I^oomer  and  Dr.  C.  H. 
Colgrove,  but  about  1850  occupied  by  Capt.  Roger  Gurley 
and  Joseph  Woodward.  Then  came  the  house  now  occu- 
pied by  Charles  Bliven ;  next  the  house  occupied  for 
many  j^ears  b^^  Merrick  Johnson,  and  still  standing,  but 
now  set  back  from  the  road.  On  the  corner  of  Union  and 
Jackson  streets  was  the  store  of  Roderick  Davison,  later 
the  firm  of  Davison  and  (John  H. )  Moulton. 

In  all  the  region  north  of  Main  street,  and  between 
High  and  Jackson  streets,  there  stood  in  1850,  besides  the 
old  slaughter  house  and  the  M.  E.  church  alread}'  men- 
tioned, onl}^  two  houses; — one  that  of  Davis  Weaver, 
grandfather  of  Editor  Thomas  Snell  Weaver,  (it  was 
here  that  our  "Journal"  editor  was  born)  and  at  this  time 
the  house  was  occupied  b}"  Zelotes  Chaffee,  and  to-day  is 
the  home  of  Frank  S.  Fowder  at  the  corner  of  Maple 
avenue  and  Bellevue  street ;  the  other  w^as  the  George  Bull 
place,  so-called,  the  little  wdiite  cottage  still  standing  next 
east  of  James  McAvoy's  residence.  All  the  rest  of  this 
great  tract,  now  so  thickly  settled,  w^as  a  swampy  valley 
with  a  brook  running  through  it,  (the  brook  still  runs 
but  now^  into  our  sewers)  and  stretched  aw^ay  up  the  hill- 
side into  chestnut  forests  and  wnld  fields .  ' '  Prospect  street ' ' 
was  not  dreamed  of  and  "Summit  street"  and  "Lewiston 
avenue"  and  the  rest,  were  unimaginable  ! 

On  Jackson  street,  the  first  house,  now^  standing,  on  the 
east  side,  w^as  the  Jesse  Wilson  place.  Abel  Clark  lived 
in  the  first  house  on  the  w^est  side,  now^  owned  by  William 
F.  Gates.  The  house  now^  so  long  owned  by  William  H. 
Osborn  w^as  built  and  then  occupied  by  Sidney  Brewster. 
The  house  now^  standing   next  north  of  Montgomery  hose 


138 

house  was  the  home  of  John  Chipman,  for  many  years 
night  watchman  for  the  Jillsons.  Across  the  street  east 
from  what  is  now  Grant's  grain  store  stood  the  Douglas 
Vaughn  place,  the  same  house  still  remaining.  The  site 
of  Grant's  store  was  then  a  lawn  studded  with  shade 
trees  and  behind  it  stood  the  house  of  William  Branch, 
w^ho  afterwards  went  to  Utah  and  became  a  Mormon 
priest.  This  house  became  the  home  of  Editor  William 
L.  Weaver  of  "The  Journal,"  and  on  the  hill  to  the  west 
of  it  stood  for  many  years  a  magnificent  tall  and  wide- 
spreading  oak,  the  solace  of  his  later  3^ears,  but  which  the 
advent  of  Loomer's  lumberyard  in  1865  destroyed,  to  the 
great  personal  grief  of  Mr.  Weaver. 

On  the  site  of  the  present  Catholic  church  stood  the 
house  of  Capt.  Calvin  Davison,  brother  of  Roderick,  and 
nearly  opposite  was  the  home  of  the  veiierable  Luke 
Flynn,  father  of  Willimantic's  present  superintendent  of 
streets,  of  the  same  name  ;  and  the  old  Flynn  house  stands 
to-da}^  just  off  the  Mansfield  road  near  the  little  bridge 
beyond  Whittemore  park  watering-trough.  Henry 
Youngs  lived  where  John  Hicke}'  now  lives  and  William 
Godfrey  lived  in  James  Murray's  present  house.  Albert 
Moulton  lived  where  he  does  now,  and  Jackson,  the  color- 
ed man  from  whom  the  street  was  named,  and  who  was  a 
respected  citizen  here  for  many  years,  lived  in  the  white 
cottage  which  stood  until  lately  on  the  site  of  John  Kil- 
lourey's  present  house,  but  is  now  moved  to  the  rear  of 
the  latter.  Mr.  Jackson  at  that  time  held  the  whole  of  the 
Hewitt  property  (to-day  so-called) ,  and  which  has  lately 
been  opened  and  been  developed  into  a  residence  district, 
and  it  was  of  Mr.  Jackson  that  Mr.  Hewitt  secured  this 
land. 

There  were  no  other  houses  north  of  the  Hewitt  and 
Jackson  property  until  you  came  to  the  old  stone 
house  now  at  the  cross  roads  of  Ash  and  Jackson  streets, 
and  which  was  then  the  Nathaniel  Robinson  place,  and 
later  the  Gordon  place.  To  the  west  on  the  north  side  of 
Chestnut-hill  road  stood  the  Calvin  Robinson  place,  then 


139 

a  red  house,  but  since  painted  white,  and  to-day  known  as 
the  Whittemore  place,  and  on  the  south  side,  the  Luther 
Robinson  place,  still  to  be  seen  as  "the  old  red  house." 
No    other  houses   were   in  this  region  in  1850. 

Passing  now  down  the  south-east  road  (Ash  street)  from 
Jackson  street,  we  come  first  to  the  old  Carey  place  oc- 
cupied in  1850  by  John  Smith  and  now  by  his  son  James. 
Next  on  the  east  side  lived  Joseph  Rollinson  in  the 
house  now  made  over  into  the  "Hawthorne"  on  the  same 
site.  Next  on  the  north  side  up  Main  street,  on  the  north- 
east corner  of  Main  and  what  is  now  Brook  street  still 
stands  the  house  where  Scott  Smith,  brother  of  John, 
lived  in  1850.  Across  the  road  and  on  the  south  side  and 
around  the  corner  towards  the  mill  is  to-day  the  same  row 
of  white  tenement  houses  that  Jillson  and  Capen  owned  in 
1850,  and  farther  to  the  south  b}^  the  river  was  their  mill, 
now  the  Linen  Co.'s  No.  3.  The  old  Capen  homestead, 
first  built  and  occupied  by  Loren  Carpenter,  first  warden 
of  the  borough,  stood  wdiere  it  does  now,  just  east  of  Hen- 
nesej^'s  store,  and  w^as  until  he  died  in  1890,  the  home  of 
John  H,  Capen.  The  present  site  of  the  Linen  Company's 
"New  Village"  was  then  a  stretch  of  hillside  and  valley 
and  swamp. 

Now  come  back  to  Union  street,  where  we  left  it  at 
Jackson.  First  on  the  north  side  below  Jackson  stood,  as 
now,  the  two-tenement  house,  then  owned  by  Lucian 
Clark,  and  next  east  was  the  residence  of  Maxon  G. 
Clark,  now  occupied  by  his  wndow^  and  her  daughter,  Mrs. 
J.  C.  Robinson.  Next  came  the  Ahab  Wilkinson  place, 
occupied  in  1850  by  Mr.  Wilkinson's  aunts  and  the  widow 
of  Dr.  Kingsle3%  and  now^  b}^  the  Chamberlain  family. 
Then  came  the  house  of  Klisha  Williams'  the  large  house 
now^  standing  at  the  corner  of  Union  and  Milk  streets;  and 
east  across  Milk  street  was  the  home  of  Ephraim  Herri ck, 
the    pioneer   truckman,  which  is  still  standing. 

Directly  across  Union  street  south  from  the  Herrick 
house  still  stands  the  house  w^here  lived  in  1850  Addison 
Safford,  whose   blacksmith  shop  was  down  across  the   lot 


140 

to  the  southeast  near  .the  "old  stone  school  house."  Now 
draw  an  air  line  from  Addison  Safford's  house  to  Col. 
William  Jillson's  (now  William  C.  Jillson's)  residence, 
and  follow  beneath  it  until  you  go  about  half  way  to  the 
river,  and  you  will  stand  about  where,  on  a  rocky  knoll, 
was  the  site  of  the  famous  "old  stone  school  house,"  which 
in  1850  was  at  the  height  of  its  fame.  The  road  did  not 
run  where  it  does  now,  but  after  coming  north  across  the 
river,  forked  at  the  river  side,  leading  east  along  the  bank 
to  Jillson  &  Capen's  mill,  and  north-west  gradually  away 
from  the  river  up  by  William  Jillson's  stone  house,  about 
as  now. 

To  the  east  of  the  school  house  along  the  site  of  the 
present  No.  2  mill  was  the  combination  paper,  grist  and 
saw  mill  successively  owned  by  Clark  &  Gray,  Smith  & 
Byrne  and  Col.  George  Spafford,  but  in  1850  owned  by  a 
Mr.  Campbell  of  New  York  and  run  by  Page  &  Son.  To 
the  inland  about  opposite  the  present  office  of  the  lyinen 
Company  stood  two  or  three  dw^elling  houses.  What  is 
now  the  Linen  Company's  spool  .shop  at  the  foot  of  Jack- 
son street  was  then  the  chief  mill  of  A.  &  S.  Jillson. 
Just  to  the  east  by  the  river  bank  stood  the  old  Duck  mill 
and  next  east  of  that  but  west  of  the  site  of  the  present  No. 
I  mill,  stood  another  three-vStory  mill  of  the  Jillsons,  but 
both  it  and  the  Duck  mill  have  been  removed.  No.  i  was 
not  built  until  1857  and  then  by  the  Linen  Company. 
Opposite  the  Jillson  mill, — now  the  spool  shop — was  the 
old  stone  store  where  the  employees  traded.  Next  east 
was  the  store  and  dwelling  of  George  Bj^rne. 

Then  came  the  old  Universalist  church  elsewhere  re- 
ferred to  ;  then  next  east  the  building  now  at  the  north- 
west corner  of  Main  and  Washington  streets,  occupied 
above  as  a  dwelling  and  in  the  basement  by  the  general 
store  of  Waterman  C.  and  Lucian  H.  Clark.  On  the  op- 
posite corner  of  Washington  street  corner  was  Edward 
Moulton's  drug  store.  George  Lathrop  (now  of  Wind- 
ham Centre)  kept  a  general  store  in  the  building  now  oc- 
cupied by    Edward    F.   Casey's    furniture   house.      The 


141 

houses  still  standing  along  to  the  east  were  occupied  as 
dwellings,  that  next  to  Lathrop's  then  by  Joanna  Wilkin- 
son, an  elderly  maiden  lady,  now  by  George  Wheeler,  the 
prompter  ;  the  next  by  Martin  Harris  then,  now  a 
tenement  house. 

This  section  along  Main  street  in  front  of  the  Jillson 
mills  and  along  by  the  foot  of  Washington  street,  was 
known  as  "Exchange  Place."  On  the  south  side  of  Ex- 
change Place,  towards  the  river,  stood  the  old  "hay 
scales."  The  post-ofhce  had  been  removed  by  Gen.  E. 
E.  Baldwin  from  Col.  Roswell  Moulton's  store,  which  then 
stood  at  the  fork  of  the  roads  near  the  river,  uptown  to 
the  little  store  opposite  Potter's  hotel  (now  Young's,)  and 
the  tendency  of  commercial  growth  w^as  that  way. 

Such,  practically,  was  the  Willimantic  of  1850. 


THE  EXHIBITION  OF  RELICS. 


[On  the  day  of  the  Bi-Centennial  Celebration,  a  display  of  Relics  was  made  in  the 
old  Windham  Bank  building.  Following  is  a  list  of  the  articles  exhibited,  with  the 
names  of  the  persons  who  loaned  them  set  opposite] 


ARTICLES.  LOANED  BV 

Carved  Oak  Chest,  (date  1696)  Mrs.  Warren  Elliott. 

Wooden  Canteen,  "  "  " 

Iron  Candlesticks,  Jairus  Smith. 

Silhouettes  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Jairus  Smith,  Sr.,  " 

Alfred  Avery  Burnham,       (portrait)  Mrs.  Ardelia  Burnham  Smith. 
Washington's  Courtship,  "  Mrs.  Andrew  Frink. 

Mr.  Moses  Abbe  "  "  "  " 

Mrs.  Talitha  Waldo  Abbe,  "  "  "  " 

Coverlet,  Mrs.  Charles  E.  Spencer. 

Coverlet,  Mrs.  Charles  Larrabee,  Jr. 

Indian  Relics,  Thomas  C.  Waterous 

Watch— Owned  by  the  Rev.  Charles  Larrabee,  a  Hugue- 
not pastor,  who  escaped  with  a  portion  of  his  flock 
from  the  south  of  France,  during  the  massacre  which 
followed  the  revocation  of  the  Edict  of  Nantes,  Oct. 
16,  1685,  and  landed  at  Baltimore,  Md.  Thus  it 
has  been   in   this  country  over   two   hundred   years. 

Charles  Larrabee,  Sr. 
Coat  of  Arms,  (Larrabee)  "  " 

Miss  Julia  Ripley,  (portrait "l  Artist,     Mr.  George  Cush- 

man,  Charles  Larrabee,  Sr. 

Painting,  Miss  Ida  Spafford. 

Sampler,  (by  Mrs.  Martha  Perkins  Johnson,  (date  1773),  " 
Hand  Fire  Screen, 

Capt.  George  A.  Fisher's  Swori.  " 

Silver  Spoons,  (date  1790)  " 

Coverlet, 

Old  Newspapers,  one  published  in  Norwich  at  the  time 
of  Washington's  death,  and  containing  an  account 
of  the  funeral  services. 


143 

ARTICLES.  LOANED    BY. 

Suit  of  Clothes,  sword  and  sash,  worn  by  Captain  Adam 
Larrabee  (then  lieutenant)  while  he  was  engaged  in 
the  attack  at  ha  Colle,  Canada,  under  General  Wil- 
kinson, March  30,  1814.  During  this  engagement, 
he  was  shot  through  the  lungs,  the  bullet  hole  being 
visible  in  the  coat  and  vest,  Henry  Larrabee. 

One  Volume  Josephus,  << 

one  Volume  Lectures  on  the  Scriptures,  (two  hundred 
years  old),  << 

United  States  Census,  (date  1820)  "  <' 

Circular  Arm  Chair,  "  " 

Silver  Spoons,  Mrs.  Julia  Frink  Arnold. 

Silver  Knee  Buckles,  (one  hundred  3'ears  old),  "  " 

Toasting  Iron,  <<  <i 

Two   brown  Satin   dresses,    (one  hundred     years    old), 

Mrs.  Henry  Page. 

Two  Tortoise  Shell  Combs, 

Two  Calashes,  (seventy  five  years  old),  "  " 

Half  dozen  sermons,  preached  by  Parson  White  in  1760,   " 

Cards  of  Invitation  to  balls  at  the  old   Staniford  Tavern, 

Spinning  Wheel 

Silk  Embroidery,  (framed  by  Miss  Maria  Stoddard),         "        ,, 

Chair,  with  circular  arms,  (seventy-j&ve  years  old,  " 

Zaccheus  Waldo  and  wife,  Esther  Stevens  Waldo,  (por- 
trait), taken  on  one  canvas,  Mrs.  Henry  S.  Walcott. 

Mrs.  Mary  Abbe  Taintor,  (portrait), 

Samuel  Huntington  Perkins,     "       Miss  Charlotte  Elderkin  Clark. 

Nancy  Perkins  Converse,  "  "  "  " 

Tortoise  Shell  Comb, 

John  Staniford,  (Portrait)  George  Challenger. 

Duke  of  Marlboro.  "  "  " 

The  Nativity, 

George  Washington,         "  Mrs.  Mary  Lathrop  Ramsdell. 

John  Lathrop,  " 

Coat-of-arms,  (Lathrop)  "  " 

Bacchus,    God  of    Wine,   (Painting)  Artist,     George    B. 

Baldwin,  Guilford  Smith. 

Chauncey  F.  Cleaveland,  "  Mrs.  Helen  Cleaveland. 

Chester  Hunt,  M.  D.  "  Mrs.  Delia  Hunt  Hebard. 

George  Washington,  "  Mrs.  Fanny  Hawkins, 

The  Seasons,  " 

Martha  Washington,    (copy    of  an   oil    painting  at    the 

Capitol)  Mrs.  Delia  Hunt  Hebard. 

View  of  Windham  in  1815,  Dr.  Frank  E.  Guild. 


144 

ARTICLES.  I.OANED    BY. 

View  of  Windham,  (Oilj  1830  Dr.  Henry  Gray. 

Zaccheus  Waldo,  (Portrait)         Mrs.  Sarah  Bingham  Lathrop. 

Nancy  Waldo  Bingham,       "  "  " 

Goddess  of  Liberty  "  "        .  " 

(Artist  of  these  three,  Samuel  L.  Waldo,  a  pupil  of 
Benjamin  West,  London.  ) 

Samuel  Gray.  '  Portrait)  Dr.  Henry  Gray. 

Charlotte  Elderkin  Gray,         "  >.  .< 

Rev.  Ebenezer  Devotion,      (Photo)  Mrs  Francis  Devotion  Lathrop. 

Martha  Lathrop  Devotion,  "  "  " 

Jonathan  Devotion,  (Portrait)  "  " 

Duke  of  Marlboro,  "  "  " 

Duke  of  Cumberland,  "  "  " 

Coat-of-arms,     Devotion)  "  "  " 

Judge  Ebenezer  Devotion,  (Portrait;  Gerald  Waldo. 

Mrs.  Ebenezer  Devotion  and  child,  "  "  " 

Devotion  Brothers -three — John  Jonathan,  Ebenezer,  "  " 

Deed,  Jonah  Palmer. 

Deed,  (i737) 

Record  of  Deaths,  (1751-1814) 

Green's  Register,   (1796) 

Copies  of  Windham  "Herald"  (ist  issue)  March  12,  1791 
to  1814, 

New  Testament,  Mrs.  Francis  Devotion  Lathrop. 

printed  in  London,  in  the  reign  of  Elizabeth,  in 
1589  — with  two  translations -the  Rhemes  and  the 
Church  of  England. 

Letter — from  the  church  in  Wenham  to  the  church  in 
Windham ;  in  behalf  of  John  Abbee  and  Hannah 
Abbee,  (his  wife)  and  of  Robert  Hibbard  and  Mary 
Hibbard,  (his  wife;  recommending  them  to  the 
watch  and  care  of  the  church  in  Windham.  Joseph 
Gerrish,   Pastor.     Dated  Wenham,  Oct.   29,  1700. 

Abstract.  Capt.  William  Young's  Company  for  the 
defence  of  New"  London  in  1781. 

Charter  granted  by  His  Majesty  King  Charles  the  Second. 

Version  of  the  Bible  with  illustrations  (pen  and  ink)  by 
Ebenezer  Gray. 

Sermon,  Joseph  Lothrop.  181 1. 

Sermon,  Cornelius  Everest,  1816. 

Digest  of  the  Laws  of  the  State  of  Connecticut.  (2  Vols.) 
by  Zephaniah  Swift,  L.  L.  D.  C.  A.  S.  1823. 

Diploma,  to  Samuel  Gray  from  Dartmouth  College. 

Diploma  to  Samuel  Huntington  Devotion  from  Yale  College. 


145 

ARTICI.ES.  LOANKD    BV. 

Coiniiiission  of  Samuel  Gray  as  Commissary  General, 
signed  by  John  Hancock. 

Commission  of  Abner  Latlirop,  signed  by  George  Washington. 

Sermons,  by  Rev.  Samuel  Whiting  January  i,  1693,  and  1721. 

Sermons,  by  Rev.  Stephen  White,  April  14,  1760,  April  3,  1764. 

Petition  of  Windham -and  Chaplin,  against  removing  the 
Courts  from  Windham, 

The  Epistle  of  the  Apostle  vSt.  James,  Resolved,  Ex- 
pounded, and  Preached  uponb}^  way  of  Doctrine  and 
Use.  For  the  benefit  and  instruction  of  all  Christian 
people,  and  for  the  help  and  direction  of  young 
practisers  in  Theology;  By  John  Mayer,  Doctor  of 
Divinity.     Printed  at  London  1629. 

Mrs.  Francis  Devotion  Latlirop. 

Warwick  Castle.  Mrs.  Harriett  Gray  Swift. 

Edinboro'  Castle, 

Bed  Curtain  of  white  linen,  spun,  wove  and  embroidered 
in  colors  by  Miriam  W^ebb  Ripley,  in  1736, 

Eunice  S.  Ripley, 

Silver  Tankard,  (1747) 

Wedding  Dress  of  white  linen,  spun,  wove  and  embroid- 
ered in  colors  by  Mary  Meyers  in  1732,  John  Babcock. 

Gun,  George  Lathrop. 

Horse  Pistol,  " 

War  Club,  (Fejee) 

An  Old  Musket,  carried  by  one  Durkee  in  the  French 
and  Indian  war,  from  1754  to  1759;  afterwards  was 
carried  through  the  war  of  the  Revolution  by  Tim- 
othy Kingsley  ;  also  carried  by  his  son,  Oraniel 
Kingsley  at  New  London  in  the  war  of  181 2. 

Captain  William  Moulton, 
(Grandson  of  Timothy  Kingsley.) 

Sword,  (Revolution)  Mrs.  Mary  Wyllys. 

Sampler,  (1742) 

Reel  and  Flax, 

Blue  China  from  Staniford  Tavern, 

Chair  of  Rev,  Samuel  Whiting,  (1700) 

Congregational  Church  of  Windham. 

Chair  of  Zaccheus  Waldo,  Mrs.  Sarah  Bingham  Lathrop. 

Chair  of  Mrs.  Sibyl  Backus  Lathrop,  Mrs.  Julia  A.  Swift. 

Watch  and  Shoe  Buckles  of  Judge   Ebenezer  Devotion, 

Mrs.  Francis  Devotion  Lathrop. 

Looking  Glass  of  Col.  Eliphalet  Dyer,      Mrs.  Delia  Hunt  Hebard. 

Pewter  Platters,  Porringer  and  Flagon,  Henry  E.  Staniford. 


146 

ARTICI.ES.  I.OANED  BV 

Powder  Horn,  Henry  E.  Staniforcl 

Punch  Bowl  and  China  from  Staniford's  Tavern     "  " 

Fancy  China  Fruit  Dishes  on  Stands,  (1767}        Mrs.  Elisha  Avery. 
Punch  Bowl,  "  " 

Sugar  Bowl, 

A  Small  Case  of  Drawers  and  Writing  Desk,  (1772)     "  " 

An  Iron  Fife,  imported  from  Germany  and  used  at  the 

battle  of  Bunker  Hill.  Mrs.  Elisha  Avery, 

(daughter  of  Solomon  Loring.) 
A  Tea  Pot,  in  which  Tea  was  made  on  the   sly,   at  the 

time  of  the  Embargo,  Mrs.  A.  D.  Loring 

A  Child's  Rocking  Chair  of  solid  oak  boards  (107  years 

old)  made  by  Zaccheus  Waldo  for  his  daughter  Nancy 

Waldo,  Mrs.  Sarah  Bingham  Lathrop. 

Water  color,  Mrs.  Charlotte  Gray  Lathrop. 

Water  color,  Mrs.  Hannah  Gray  Parsons. 

The  Widow,  Mrs.  Gertrude  Storrs  Bissell. 

Writing  Desk,  (1620)  Mr.  Frink  Hebard 

China    breakfast   and    tea    set    of    Mary    Gray     (1812) 

Mrs.  Hariett  Gray  Swift. 
China   plate,     subject    ''Landing   of    Lafayette   in    New 

York"  (August  1824.)  Mrs.  Charles  E.  Spencer. 

China  plate.  Subject — "The  University  of  Transylvania." 
Carved  Image  of  Bacchus,  A.  E.  Brooks. 

Call  Bell  from  the  Staniford  Tavern,  "  " 

First    Steam    Railroad   passenger   Train  in   America  on 

the  Mohawk  and  Hudson  R.    R.    (1831)    Copy  of  an 

Oil    Painting   in   the  possession   of  the  Connecticut 

Historical    Society,  Hartford,    (2  copies) 

Mr.  William  Palmer  and  Mr.  Jairus  Smith. 
Silk  embroidery,  b}^  Mary  Gray,  Mrs.  Harriett  Gray  Swift. 

Silk  embroidery,  by  Sally  Allen,    '  Arthur  S.  Winchester. 

China  Plate,  Subject,  "The  University  of  Transylvania," 

Mrs.  Frances  Devotion  Lathrop. 


CORRECTIONS    AND   ADDITIONS. 


[The  long  delay  in  securing  the  photographs  from  which  the  illustrations  of  this 
volume  are  made,  has  afforded  opportunity  to  note  some  slight  errors  in  the  printed 
text,  and  to  add  a  few  facts  of  interest,  as  herewith  given.  J 


Page  4,  Among  the  honorary  vice-presidents,  the  names  of  Storrs 
Swift  and  Palmer  Fenton  belong  to  Mansfield,  instead  of  Hampton. 

Page  II,  line  17,  read  Capt.  Morrison,  instead  of  Robinson. 

Page  14,  line  7,  read  June  10,  instead  of  May  10. 

Page  15,  line  15,  read  Dr.  Guild,  instead  of  Dr.  Smith. 

Page  16.  It  should  be  understood  that  the  poem  of  Miss  Robbins 
was  contributed  to  represent  at  the  Bi-Centennial  gathering  the 
town  of  Chaplin,  which  sprang  from  Windham, 

Page  17.  Rev.  Theron  Brown,  author  of  the  "Epic  of  Wind- 
ham", is  a  brother,  not  a  son  of  John  A.  Brown  of  Mt.  Hope.  Their 
father  was  the  late  Eliphalet  Brown. 

Pages  18-19.  The  list  of  invited  guests  was  copied  from  the  Wil- 
limantic  "Journal",  and  no  attempt  made  to  secure  a  fuller  list. 

Page  46,  line  i,  read  1825,  instead  of  1824;  line  7,  1828  instead  of 
1827;  Deacon  Charles  Lee  built  only  two  of  the  houses  of  the  pres- 
ent Smithville   White  row.  Gen.  L.  E-  Baldwin  the  others. 

Page  50,  hanging  of  Watkins  Aug.  31,  1832,  instead  of  1829. 

Page  51,  line  2.  Gen.  Amos  Fowler  is  not  living,  but  died  in 
Windsor  in  1876.  It  is  his  brother,  Gen.  Anson  Fowler,  who  is 
now  living  in  Lebanon. 

Page  58.  The  H.  P.  &  F.  R.  R.  reached  Willimantic  from  Hart- 
ford in  1849,  and  was  opened  to  Providence  in  1853. 

Page  64,  line  7,  read  Sumter  instead  of  Richmond. 

Page  65,  read  Jas.  Haggerty  enlisted  at  14  (not  13)  years,  i  mo. 
II  days. 

Page  78.  William  B.Swift,  son  of  Grant  Swift  of  Mansfield, 
started  a  little  one-story  silk  mill  on  the  site  of  the  present  west 
mill  of  the  Holland  Co.,  and  the  Hollands  bought  him  out.  Albert 
Jacobs  built  the  brick  house  occupied  by  J.  H.  Holland,  now  by  the 
Misses  Brainard. 

Pages  80-81.  The  Abolition  disturbance  occured  in  the  spring  of 
1837,  and  the  name  of  the  leader  of  the  mob  was  Charles  Scoville, 
instead  of  Schofield.  It  was  Edwards  (not  Edward)  Clark  who 
read  the  riot  act. 


148 

Page  83.  Samuel  Bingham  was  cashier  of  the  Windham  Bank 
when  it  w^as  robbed,  James  Parsons  was  teller  and  slept  in  the 
building. 

Page  84,  read  Charles  Smith  of  Smith,  Winchester  &  Co.,  in  his 
85th.  year,  instead  of  8oth. 

Page  87.  The  first  newspaper  published  in  Willimantic  w^as  the 
Windham  "Gazette",  and  Blisha  Avery  has  copies  of  it  now  in  his 
possession.  The  "Public  Medium"  came  later.  At  the  Williman- 
tic "Journal"  office  to-day  may  be  seen  the  original  woodcut  of  the 
headline  of  the  "Public  Medium",  which  represented  a  view  of  the 
Windham,  Smithville  and  Jillson  mills,  and  the  river. 

Page  89.  The  first  physician  of  Willimantic  was  Dr.  Mason.  Tie 
came  in  1827,  and  his  wife's  mother  Mrs.  Lambert,  built  in  1828 
a  house  on  the  site  of  the  present  Dime  and  National  bank  build- 
ing. Dr.  Mason  remained  only  three  or  four  years  and  Dr.  Witter 
was  the  first  long-resident  physican. 

Page  138.  The  Jackson  street  lands  were  never  owned  by  the  col- 
ored man,  whose  name  was  Lyman  Jackson,  though  long  occupied 
by  him  and  named  from  him.  The  late  Bli  Hewitt  bought  the 
property  of  Edwin  Eaton  of  Chaplin  and  his  daughter.  Miss  Mary 
A.  Hewitt  of  South  Windham  now  holds  the  deed. 

THE  COLLECTION  OF  RELICS. 

At  the  time  of  the  Bi-Centennial  the  press  of  Connecticut  and 
neighboring  states  made  note  of  event  in  interesting  reports.  The 
following  appreciative  comment  of  the  Norwich  correspondent  of  the 
New^  York  Stinday  Tribune  is  worthy  of  preservation,  especially 
for  its.  account  of  the  very  valuable  collection  of  relics,  whose 
articles  are  of  course  still  to  be  found  scattered  among  the  families 
to  whom  they  are  credited  in  the  list  elsewhere  printed  in  this 
volume: 

"Norwich,  June  II,  1892  (Special  to  the  Tribune^. — At  the  cele- 
bration at  Windham  Green  this  week  of  the  town  of  Old  Windham's 
2ooth  birthday  anniversary  a  collection  of  ancient  relics  and  family 
heirlooms  was  displayed  in  the  Old  Windham  Bank  that  was  never 
equalled  by  a  similar  private  exhibition  in  the  history  of  Connecti- 
cut. Two  rooms  in  the  building  were  lined  with  antique  articles, 
all  of  which  belong  to  residents  of  the  town  and  are  invaluable. 
Notable  in  the  collection  were  immense  full-length  family  por- 
traits, 150  years  old,  whose  canvas  was  time-stained  and  split  in 
half  a  dozen  places.  The  central  portrait  was  not  less  than  six 
feet  tall.  It  depicted  a  lady  of  the  old-fashioned  type  in  the  most 
highly  starched  pose,  and  in  her  lap  a  babe  only  a  trifle  less  wood- 
en of  posture.  It  is  an  interesting  fact  that  the  infant  in  the  pic- 
ture became  the  mother  of  a  respected  citizen  of  Old  Windham, 
who  is  still  living  at  the  age  of  ninety-two  years.  Another  valu- 
able heirloom  was  the  continental  uniform  of  Captain  Larrabee, 
torn  by  the  bullets  with  which  he  was  desperately  wounded  in  an 
Indian  fight  near  Lake  Champlain,  in  New  York.  A  great  old 
chest,  exquisitel}^  carved,  that  had  not  a  nail  mark  in  its  frame,  and 
was  black  with  age,  bore  on  its  front  the  date,  indented  with  a 
knife,  1696.  There  were  a  hundred  other  things  almost  equally 
precious.  The  village  of  Windham  is  rich  in  history.  Most  of  its 
stately  houses  were  built  before  the  Revolution  and  are  famous  for 
their  historical  or  legendary  associations.     In  the  Staniford  Tavern, 


149 

which  is  now  the  private  home  of  the  Eklerkin  family,  Washinjj;- 
toii  was  quartered  on  several  of  his  visits  to  Eastern  Connecticut. 
The  place  was  old  when  it  sent  troopers  to  join  the  Continental 
Army,  and  the  French  contingent  of  Washington's  Army  came 
there,  led  by  gallant  noblemen.  The  old  sign  of  the  Staniford  Inn, 
belonging  to  the  time  of  the  British  regime,  is  still  as  good  as  new, 
and  swings  above  the  door  of  the  Old  Windham  Hotel,  which  is 
almost  as  old  as  the  Staniford  Tavern.  An  equally  interesting 
relic  is  a  wooden  and  highly-painted  image  of  Bacchus,  the  prop- 
erty of  A.  E.  Brooks,  of  Hartford,  that  was  mounted  at  the  Stani- 
ford Tavern.  It  was  carved  by  prisoners  of  war,  taken  from  the 
British  vessel  Bomrig,  in  Long  Island  Sound,  in  the  Revolution, 
who  were  confined  at  the  time  in  the  Old  Windham  Jail.  There  is 
only  one  other  figure  of  the  kind  in  the  country." 


N^OTE. — The  statement  that  the  Staniford  Tavern  is  "now  the  private  home  of 
the  Elderkin  family",  is  an  error  on  the  part  of  the  "Tribune"  correspondent.  The 
old  Staniford  Tavern  was  torn  down,  and  the  residence  now  occupied  by  Thomas 
Ramsdell  was  built  on  the  same  site. 


INDEX. 


[This  index  lays  no  claim  to  completeness  of  topics  or  symmetry  of  classifica 
tion,  but  aims  only  to  include,  for  convenience  in  reference,  names  and  principal 
topics.  It  is  believed  that  every  family  name  to  be  found  in  the  book  has  been 
indexed.— A.  B.  L.] 


Abbe,  typical  family,  28. 

Chas.  Smith,  17,  121,  122. 

Elisha,  41. 

George,  67. 

house,   15. 

Joshua,  53. 
Abbee,    Captain   of     the   craft 
"Windham,"   106. 

Richard,      first     County 
Treasurer,    30 ;    opens 
first  hotel,  3i. 
Abbeeites,  53. 
Abimelech  Sachem,  22, 
Abolition  Agitation,  80. 
Academy  at  South  Windham, 

59- 
Academy  at  Windham,  41. 

Adams,  A.  B.,  136. 

Elizabeth,  24. 

Joseph,  30. 

Samuel  G.,  130. 
Adams  Express  Agency,  89. 
Adams  Nickel  Plating  Co,,   75. 
Adgate,  Thomas,  21. 
Air  Line  Railroad,  58. 
Alcohol,  Victims  of  ,57,  81. 
Alderman,  Rev.  A.  P.,  54. 

Alford,  F.  H.,  88. 
G.  H.,  9,  132. 


Alger,   Gen.,  65. 

Allen,  Amos  Deunison,  61. 

Edwin,  73,74. 

Henry,  19. 
Allen,  typical  family,  28. 
Alpaugh  &  Hooper,  133. 
American  Wood  Type  Co.,  75. 
Amherst,  Lord, at  Montreal,  35. 
Amidon,  Samuel  E.,  6. 
Andrews,  Rev.  51, 
Andross,  Sir  Edmund,  21. 
Anketell,  Rev.  John  H.,  52. 
Archambeault's  store,  132. 
Arnold,  Joel  R.,  64,  131,  134. 

Mrs.  Julia,  9. 
Ashley,  Rev,  R.  K.,  56. 
Ashton,  Thomas,  5,  12. 
''At  Home,"  poem,  108-9. 
Atkinson,  Edward,  77. 
Atlanta  Exposition,  77. 
Attanwanhood,  Joshua,  son    of 

Uncas,  20,  22,  97. 
Atwood  Block,  54,  80. 

Warren,  89,  130,  135. 
Avery,  Elisha,  148. 

Henry  W.,  60. 
Babcock,  typical  family,  28 
Babcock,  Courtland,  132. 


151 


Bacchus,  image  15,  43,  81. 
Backus,  typical   family,  28. 

Ebenezer,  32. 

George  H.,  6. 

Johu,  23. 

William,  22,  23,  28. 

William  C,  6. 
Badger,  typical  family,  28. 

Daniel,  99. 

Edmund,  67,  68, 
Bailey,  James  N.,  130. 
Baker,  Mrs.  Clias.,  9. 

Chas.  L.,  64. 

Col.  RufusL.,  63. 
Baldwin,  Jerome  B.,  6,  65. 

John,  91. 

Gen.  Lloyd  E.,  3.  5,  6,  8, 

15.49.50.58,85,91,129, 

130.  133.   134,  141,  147- 

Baptist  church,  51,    52,  54,    55, 

57.  136. 
Barber,  W\  J.,  87. 
Barlow,  Elder  J.  L.,  57. 
Barrows,  Fred  F.,  60. 

Samuel,  134. 

Samuel  Jr,,  49. 
Barstow,  Wm.  P.,  9. 
Bartlett,  Reuben  S.,  i9. 
Bass,  typical  family,  28;  of 

Scotland,  114. 
Bassett,  Joseph  C,  4,  9,  84, 

131- 
Batrachian  Battle,  Windham's 

great,  32  and  fol. 
Beach,  Frank  E.,  88. 
Beckwith,  Willard,  15. 
Beebe,  Rev.  E.,  54- 
Beede,  Frank  H.,  61. 
Belair,  Moses,  6. 
Bell,  Rev.  Edward,  54. 
Bennett,  Origen,  4,  9. 


Bennett,  Perry,  61. 

Dr.  William  A.,  65. 
Bently,  Dr.  Eleazer,  60. 

Rev.  E.  D.,  54. 
Bibbins,  typical  family,  28. 
Bi-Centennial  Anniversary,   3. 
Bill,  Arthur  I.,  6,  8,  88. 

Eleazer,  131. 

Rev.  F.  W.,  54. 

Horatio  N.,  5,  9. 
Billings,  typical  family,  28. 
Bingham,  typical  family,  28. 

Jonathan,  29. 

Miss  Josie,  9. 

Roger,  53. 

Samuel,  148. 

Waldo,  4,  5,  8. 
Birchard,  John,  21. 
Bissell,  Hezekiah,  75. 
Blanchette,  J.    Octave,  6. 
Blish  Frank  H.    6.   61;  of   Per- 
kins &  B.,  135. 
Bliven  Chas.  S.,  4,  137. 

Joseph  B.,  4. 
Bolles  John,  65. 
Boon  block,  91. 
Boon,  William  C,  49,  134- 
Borough  of  Willimantic,  49. 
Boss,  Charles  L.,  6, 

Eugene  S.,  3, 

Harry,  4,  8,  130. 
Boston  Ht'f'd  &  Erie  R.  R.,  59. 
Bowen,  Chas.  D.,  64. 

Dr.  Geo.  Austin,  18. 
Bowman,  John,  5. 
Bradford,  Abel,  134. 

Rev.  E.  B.,54. 

Governor,  24. 
Bradshaw,  John  T.,  6. 
Brady,  Rev.  Father  H..  55. 
Brainard,  Henry,  59,  135. 


152 


Brainard  house,  135. 
Misses,  78,  147. 
Braley,  Lester  E.,  64. 
Branch,  Wm.,  128. 
Brewster,  Rev.  Geo.  W.,  54. 
Rev.  Joseph,  52. 
Sidney,    137. 
Brick  manufacture,  90. 
Brighani,  Walter  D.,  6. 
Broderick,  Dennis  F..  6. 
Bromley,  Dr.  Calvin,  60. 
Rev.  Henry,  54. 
vStephen,  131. 
Brooklyn,  44. 

Brooks,  Abel  E.,  6,  8,  15,  43,  149. 
Brown,  typical  family,  28. 
Elder  Harry,  57. 
Eliphalet,  147. 
John,  4,  8,  85,  91. 
John  A.,  17,  147. 
Lucius  and  wife,  19. 
Robert,  47,  86. 
Theron,  17,  65,  147. 
Buck,  Edwin  A.,  5,  49. 

Rev.  Geo.,  57. 
Bugbee,  J.  Calhoun,  5. 
Bull,  George,  137. 
Bunker  Hill,  35,  36. 
Burdick,  Wm.  L.,  61. 
Burleson,  Allen  B.,   131. 
Burlingham,  Samuel  L.,  5,  78. 
Burnham,     typical    family    of 
Scotland,  114. 
Abel  R.,  130. 
Alfred  A.,  91. 
Chester,   18. 
Edward  L.,  4. 
Edwin  E.,  3,  4,  9- 
Elisha,  130. 
Geo.  W.,  4,  6,  8,  57. 
Henry,  9. 
Marvin,  4,  8. 
Burnside,  Gen.,  65. 


Bushnell,  Sergt  Richard,   22. 
Button,  Linden  T.,  4. 
Byrne,  George,  140. 

Smith  and  B.,  140. 
Cadwell,  George  A.,  61. 
Cady,  Rev.  Jonathan,  54. 
Calkins,  Hugh,  22,  124. 
Cambridge,   settlers  from,  27. 
Campbell,    Miss   Bertie  9, 
of  New  York,  140. 
Fred,   130. 
Jefferson,   130. 
Thomas,  91,  130. 
Camp  Ground  M.  E.,  55. 
Canada  Parish,  27. 
Canadian  Immigration,  92-3. 
Capen,  Chas.  A.,  6,  8. 
homestead,  139. 
John  H.  50,  139. 
Jillson  &  Capen,  92. 
Card  block,  91. 

David  C,  6,  134. 
Carding  Machines,  45. 
Carey,  Eleazer,  30. 
Henry,  4. 
house,  139. 
John  F.,  6. 
typical     family     28  ;     of 

Scotland,   114. 
Samuel,  25. 
Waldo,  84. 
Cargell,  William  C,  4,  89,  130. 
Carpenter  Bros.,  84,  132. 
Chas.  E.,  6,  8. 
James  H.,  134. 
Loring,  49,  139. 
Carroll,     Charles,    of    Carroll- 
ton,  13. 
Rev.  S.  J.,  55- 
Carter,  John,  67. 
"Case  Knife,"  Old  Slave,  90. 
Casey,  Edward  F.,  6,  91,  140. 


153 


Gates,  John,   15,  17,   23,  97,  98. 

Catholics    11,    54,    56,    6r,    92, 

138. 
Catlin,  George  S.,  82,  91. 

Chaffee,  J.  Dwight,  5. 
O.  S.  &  Son,  78. 
Zelotes,  137. 

Challenger,  Geo.,  5,  8,  9,  15. 
Chamberlain  family,  139. 

Prof.  L.  P.,  9. 
Chandler,  Thomas  C,  5,  129. 
Chaplin,  4,  9. 
Chapman,   Amos  S.,    9. 

Horace  M.,  5. 
Chappell,  Herbert  R.,  6. 
Charlestown,  settlers  from,  27. 
Chase,  George  H.,  7,  86. 

Laban,  86,  132. 
Cheshire,  52. 
Chipman,  John,  137. 

Martha,  60. 
Church,  Rev.  A.  J.,  55. 
Churches  of  Windham,  51 

and  fol. 
"Cindy,"  old  slave,  90. 
Clap,  Rev.  Thos.,  24,  25,  26. 
Clark,  Abel,  137. 

Rev.  Edgar  F.,  54. 

Edwards,  81,  147. 

Huber,  6. 

John  G.,  61. 

Ivucian  H.,  139,  140. 

Silas  F.,  4. 

Maxon  G.,  139. 

Gen.  Waterman  C,  140. 

typical  family,  28. 
Clark  &Gray,  45,  140. 
Cleveland,  typical  family,  28. 

Edward  S.,  4,  16. 

President  Grover,  52 

Rev.  R.  F.,  51. 


Cogswell,  J.  R.,  19. 

Rev,,  51. 
Coker,  Rev.  M.  G.,  54. 
Colgrove,  Dr.  C,  H.,  5,  137. 
Collins,  John,  87. 
Colored  population,  92. 
Conant,  Albert  A.,  4. 
Congdon,  Thomas  R.,  84, 
Congregational  church,  51,  52. 

53,  81,  133. 
Congressmen  from  Windham. 

91- 
"Connecticut     Home"     news- 
paper, 88. 
Cook,  Rev.  Benajah,  54. 
Cooley,  John  G..  34. 
Cooper,  Rev.  John,  54. 
Corbin,  David  P.,  61. 
Corson,  Rev.  Iv.  H.,  52. 
County  seat  removed,  44. 
Crampton,   Rev.  Ralph    vS  ,  53. 
Crandall,  W.  C,  88. 
Crane,  Edmund,  132. 

Jonathan,  23,    28,  29,  30, 
34,  124. 

"Aunt  Lucy"  132. 

typical  family,  28. 
Cranston,  Allen  L.,  130. 

Earl,  131. 

William  H.,  130. 

place,  84. 
Crimean  War,  75. 
Crofts,  Rev.  C.  P.,  53. 
Crown  Point,  34. 
Cunningham,  Thos.,    49,    133. 
Curtis,  Asa,  87. 

Rev.  Wm.  A.,  52. 

Moseley,  91, 
Cushman  block,  136. 

E.  McCall,  61,  136. 

J-  E.,  136. 


154 


Daniels,  Charles    N.,    91,    firm 

of  Grant  &  D.,  68. 
Dartmouth    College,    founded 
by  Windham  man,  37. 
David,  Dr.  Adelard  D.,  6,  12. 
Davison,  Capt.  Calvin,  138. 

Rev.  G.  K.,  54. 

Roderick,  4,  137,  138. 
Day,  Rev.  Hiram,  52. 
Dean,  Josiah  84,  131. 

Josiah,  Jr.,  131. 
DeBruycker,  Rev.  Fl.,  4,  11, 

12,  13,  56. 
Denison,  typical    family,  28. 

Capt.  George,  22. 

Nathan,  33. 
Deshon,  Rev.  Giles  N.,  52. 
Devotion,  typical    family,    28; 
of  Scotland,  114. 

family  Bible,  16. 
Devotion,  Rev.    Ebenezer,    25. 

Ebenezer,  Jr.,  32. 
Dewitt,  Henry,  41. 
Dexter,  Stephen,  49. 
Dido,  story  of  Hettie's  cosset, 

77- 
Dime  Savings  Bank,  83. 
Dimmock,  typical  family,    28. 
Dimock,  Rose.  66. 
Dingley,  typical  family,  28. 
Dinsmore,  Rev.  C.  A.,  54. 
Dodge,  "Uncle  Amos,"  41. 
Dorchester,  Rev.  Daniel,  54. 
Dow,  Lorenzo,  53. 
Dowling,  Rev.  Thos.,  54. 

Dunham  hall,    56;  D.  and  Ives 
firm,  76. 
Leonard  R.,  61. 

Dunn,  Daniel  P.,  6. 
Durkee,  Fort,  33. 


Durkee,  Capt.  John,  33. 

typical  family,  28. 

D.,  Stiles  &  Co.,  136. 
Dwight,  Rev.  Moseley,  54. 
Dyer,  typical  family,  28. 

Dr.  Benjamin,  41. 

Col.   Eliphalet,     31,    33- 
34,  36,     37,  41,  83,  103. 

Mansion,  14,  15. 

"Old  Prime,"  slave,    70. 

Thomas,  33. 
Early  Willimantic,  44. 
Easter,  Rev.  A.  Ogden,  52. 
Eaton,  Edwin,  148. 
Eddy,  Rev.  Clayton,  52. 
Edgarton,  Henry  L.,  6. 
Educational  tables,  74. 
Edwards,  Rev.  Harry,  52. 
Elderkin,    typical    family,    28. 

mansion  of,  15. 

Bela,  25. 

Col.  Jedediah,  31,  32,  36, 
37,  41,  78,  83,  103. 

E.  &  Wales  firm,  36. 

Joshua,  Vine  and  John, 

25- 

Joshua,  15,  36. 

Vine,  33. 
Electric  Light  Co.,  80. 
Ellery,  John,  25. 
Elliott,  Geo.  C,  133. 
English  origin  of  population, 

92, 
"Enterprise"  newspaper,  88. 
Epic  of  Windham,  The,  95. 
Episcopal  Society,  52,  56. 
Essex,  Wm.  F.,  133. 
Evans,  John,  Charles  and 

Edward,  87. 

Rev.  P.  S.,  54. 
Everest,    Rev.     Cornelius    B., 

17,  51. 


155 


Exchange  Place,  57,  141, 
Faribault  plan,  62. 
Fa V' roe,  Arthur  P.,  4. 
Feldman,  L.  and  H.,  133. 
Fenn,  Rev.  W.  A.,  54. 
Fenton,  Capt.   Chas,  65. 

I.  P.,  9. 

Palmer,  4. 
First  National  Bank,  83. 
First  Settler,  The,  poem,   no. 
Fish,  Angeline,  132. 

Nathan,  132. 
Fitch,  Col.  Ebenezer,  24. 

Edwin  S.,  50. 

Capt.  Eleazer,  34,  35. 

Governor,  100. 

Hardin,  4,  9,  58,  84,   129. 

Dr.  Jabez,  59. 

Rev.  James,  21. 

Major  James,  21. 

Capt.  John,  34. 

Joseph,  24. 

Marcy,  33. 

Dr.  Newton,  49,  135. 

tavern,  22. 

typical  family,  28. 
Fitches,  mention  of,  22. 
Fitzpatrick,  Patrick,  6. 
Fletcher,  Rev.  Daniel,  54. 
Flint,  typical  family,  28. 

Jairus,  32. 

Lucius  Y.,  4. 
Flynn,  Luke  6,  138. 

Luke,  Jr.,  138. 
Follett's  Pond,  96. 
Follett,  typical  family,  28. 
Ford,  Samuel  B.,  132. 
Foster,  J.  H.,  88. 
Foster  &  Post  firm,  67. 
Fourdrinier     Brothers,  Henry 

and  Lealy,  70. 
Fourdrinier  Machines.  67-70. 


Fowler,  Major  Gen.  Amos,  50, 
147. 

Amos  T.,  6. 

Gen.  Anson,  147. 

PVank  S.,  137. 
Fox,  Chas.  J.,  3,  5,  6. 
Franklin  Hall,  55,  61,  85,  133. 
Free,  Rev.  S.  R.,  53. 
Freeman,  Lucian,  4. 
French  Canadians,  5,  6,  92. 
French  and  Indian  War,  24. 
French  Mills,  battle  of,  63. 
Frink,  typical  family,  28. 

Andrew,  8. 

Levi,  132. 

L.  G.,  9. 
Frogs,  Story  of  Windham,  32 
and  fol.;   battle  of,  100. 
Frost  &  Pickering  firm,  67. 
Fuller,   Deacon  A.  H.,  54,  131. 

Jane  Gay.  18,  no. 

L.  J.  and  Son,  134. 

Thomas  Hart,  61. 

typical   family    of  Scot- 
land,  114. 
Fulsome,  Israel  and  wife,   26. 
Future,  The,  93  and  fol. 
Gager,  Edwin  B.,  17,  112. 

John  P.,  4. 

Lewis,  17. 

William,  24. 
Gallows  Hill,  31. 
Gardner,  Rev.,  54. 
Gates,  Rev.  Alfred,  54. 

Andrew  F.,   18. 

William  F.,  137. 

Ginne,  Joe,  23. 

Ginnings,  Jonathan,  23. 

Godfrey,  William,  138. 

Gold  Fever,  91. 

Good  Samaritan  Movement, 82. 


156 


Gordon  Place,  138. 
Gould.  Rev.  John  B.,  54. 
Governor's  Foot  Guards,  7. 
Grant  &  Daniels  firm,  68. 
Gray,  typical  family,  28,  103. 
Clark  and  G.,  146. 
Col.  Ebenezer,  25.  37. 
John  H.,  133. 
Green,  Alonzo  B.,  131. 

Rev.  Philetus,  54. 
Greenslit,  David  A.,  4,  9. 
Gregor}-,  Rev.  Alva,  54. 
Griggs,  David  A.,  4. 
John,  9. 

Miss  Nellie  M.,  16. 
Grove  Seminary,  59. 
Guild,  Dr.  F.  E.,  9,  i5-  i47- 
Gurley,  Capt.  Roger,  137. 
Haggerty,  James,  6,  65,147. 
Hale,  Nathan,  drum  corps,  15. 
Hall,  Edwin  H.,  35,  131. 
E.  H.  Jr.,  68. 
E.  H.  and  Son,  86. 
Egbert,  132. 
H.  &  Bill  Printing  Co., 

88. 
Henry,  50,  91- 
Henry  L.  87. 
Horace,  61,  87,  91,  133. 
Hon.  John  M.,  3,  5,  6,  7, 

8,87,  131,   133- 
Nathan,  132. 
Hallam,  Rev.  Dr.,  56. 
Hammond,  Elisha  G.,  4,  8. 

Lucius  J.,  5,  9,  14- 
Hampton,  4,  9,  16,  27. 
Hanlon,  James  E.,  6. 
Hanover  Block,  91,  136. 

Geo.  W.,  136. 
Haran,  Thos.,  133. 
Hartford,' Providence   &  Fish- 
kill  R.  R.,  58,  147- 


Harrington  house,  133. 
Harris,  Martin,  59,  141. 
Harrison,  Wm.  Henry,  63,  80. 
Hartson,  Albert,  4.  8. 
Lester  M.,  6,  9. 

Haskins,  Rufus  T.,  5. 
Hatch,  Charles,  15. 

Henry,  9,  122. 

Mrs.  Henry,  9. 

Jonathan,  4,  8. 
Hatheway,    Amos   L.,    17,  116. 

A,  Morris,  17. 
Hawkins,  Wm.  B.,  50. 
Hawthorne  House,  139. 
Hay  Scales,  141. 
Hayden,  James,  3. 

Whiting,  46,  57. 
Heap,  Geo.  P.  132,  136. 
"Hearsay,"     by    C.     S.   Abbe, 

121  and  fol. 
Hebard,  Geo.  W.,  91. 

Tavern,  50,  81,  91,  131. 

typical  family,  28. 
Hendee,  Richard,  23. 
Henney,  John,  65. 
Henry,  John  J.,  6. 
"Herald,"  newspaper,   34,  40, 

86,  87,  88. 
Herrick,  Ephraini,  54,  139. 
Hettie, Story  of  Cosset  Dido, 77. 

Hewitt  Eli,  148. 

Miss  Mary  A.,  148. 

Property,  138. 
Hickey,  John,  4,  138. 
High  School,  61. 
Hill,  Samuel  L.,  60. 
Hills,  T.  Morton,  5. 
Hine,  Roderick  W.,  61. 
"Hither  Place,"  23. 
Holbrook,  S.  T.,  19. 

Wm.  A..  61. 


157 


Holden,  Rev.  C.  W.,  55. 

Rev.  F.  A.,  52. 
Holland,  Dr.  J.  G.,  78. 

J.  H.  &  G..  78,  147. 
Holland    Manufacturing    Co., 
78. 

Holman,  Rev.  Geo.  W.,  54. 
Holmes,  Elisha,  75. 

E.  Harlow,  5,  8,  9. 

Mrs.  Sarah,  9. 
Holt,  Geo.  M.,  9. 
Hooker,  S.  Chauncey,  6. 

House,  49,  53. 
Hooper's  Lane,  86. 
Hooper,  Alpaugli  and  H.,  135. 

Robert,  132. 
Hopley,  Rev.  Samuel,  52. 
Horbush,  Rev.  H  ,  54. 
Horseshoe  Bridge  built,  43. 
Horton,  Rev.  S.  J.,    15,  16,  52. 
Hosmer,  James  D.,  130. 

Mountain,  48. 

Stephen,   48,   49,  130. 

Wni.  H.,  89,  91,  130. 
Hovey,  Rensalaer  O.,  50. 

Judge,  89. 
Howes,  Alfred,  135. 

James,  136. 

blacksmith  shop,  47. 
Hoxie,  Benjamin  B.  4. 
Hoyt,  F.  K.,  9, 
Hubbard,  Amos  H.,  71. 
Hudson,  Henry,   71, 
Huguenot    Descendants,     114. 
Hunter,  John  L.,  5.  131. 

Huntington,  Charles,  59. 
Major  Hezekiah,  36. 
Joseph,  23,  30, 
Nathaniel,     Enoch,  Jos. 

and  Jabez,  25. 
Jabez,  30. 


Huntington,  Rufus,  48. 

vSamuel,  36-7,  40. 

vSimon,  21,  22. 

Thomas,  30. 

typical     family,    28 ;    of 
Scotland,    1 14. 
Hunt,  typical  family,  28. 
Hyde,  William,  21. 
"Independent    Observer     and 
County  Advertiser," 
newspaper,  87. 
Indian  charity  school,  37. 
Ingersoll,  Jared,  35. 
Ireland,  Archbishop,  62. 
Irish  population,  92. 
Iron  ore,  28. 
Iron  Works,  28,  36. 
Iron  Works  Bridge,  47. 
Ives,  Dunham  &  I.,  firm  76. 
Jackson,  Gen.  Andrew,  85. 

Lyman,  138,148. 

Street,  55,  56. 
Jacobs,  Ward  W.,  4. 
Jefferson,  Rev.  H.  B.,  57. 
Jennings,  Jonathan,  99. 

Joseph,  31. 

Ro3'^al,  49. 

typical  family,  28. 
Jewett,  Charles,  9. 

Mrs.  Chester,  9. 
Jillson,  Asa,  49,  131. 

Bros.,  (Wni.,  Asa  and 

Seth,)  45. 

Mill.  75. 

J.  and  Capen,  76,  92,  139, 
140. 

Capt.  John  S.,  50. 

Seth,  131. 

William  C,  3,  6,  131,  140. 

Capt.  William  L..  50,  85. 

William,  137. 

Col.  William,  131,  140. 


158 


Johnson,  Mrs.  Ann  H.,  15. 

Merrick,   137. 

Sir  William,  24. 

Rev.  William,  34. 
Johnson's   livery   stable,     134, 

new  block,  135. 
Jordan,  Chas.  B.,  6,  60. 

Lyman,  48,  130. 

Thomas,  130. 
"Journal,"  Willimantic,  9,  11, 

14,  18,  87. 
Judson,  Rev.  Philo,  53. 
Keigwin,  John  G.,  3,    5,  6,    84, 

133- 
Keith,  Rev.  O.  F.,  52. 
Kellen,  Rev.  William,  54. 
Kelley,  Thos.  J.,  3,  5,  9. 
Kellogg,     Eunice    Richmond, 

132,  135- 
Kelsey,  Rev.  W.  S.,  52. 
Kennedy,  typical  family,  28. 
Kenyon,  Miss  Emma,    9. 

E.  P.,  9. 
Killourey,  John,  138. 

Kimbel,  Block,  133. 
Stephen,  133. 

King  family,  131. 
Kingsburys,  typical  family,  28, 
Kingsley,  Dr.  139. 

Wm.  60. 

typical    family    of  Scot- 
land, 114. 
Knapp.  Rev.  Henry  R.,  54. 
LaFayette,  Gen.  12. 
Lamnon,  Wm.  C,  19. 
Land  values,  49,  89. 
La  Palme,  J.  Godfrey,  4. 
Larned,  Miss  Ellen  D.,  18. 
Larrabee,  Capt.  Adam,  62,    63. 

Charles,  4,  8,  19,  63. 

Chas.,  Jr.,  6,  8,  9. 


Larrabee,  Major  Chas.,    62,  63. 
Miss  Emma,  9. 
Henry,  3,    5,   8,    19,    43, 

63. 

Mrs.  Henry,  9. 

John  23. 

Timothy,  42,  44,  63. 

typical  family,  28 

William,  9. 
Latham,  Wm.  H.,  5. 
Lathrop,  Azariah,  132. 

Charlotte,  15. 

Dr.,  64. 

Elder  Benjamin,  53. 

George,  4,  5,8,  9,  i4o. 

H.  Clinton,  6,  8,  9. 

Jabez,  5,  61. 

James  P.,  19. 

Mrs  Lee,  16. 

typical  family,  28. 
Law  students,  89. 
Leader,  Rev.  Shadrach,  55. 
Leavitt,  Rev.  D.  P.,  55. 

N.  W.,  88. 
Leavitt' s  operetta,  90. 
Lebanon,  26,  27. 
Lee,  Deacon   Chas.,    46,  48,  52, 

132,  147. 
Leffingwell,   Lieut.    Thos.,   21, 

22. 
Lemon,  Rev.  J.  B.,  54. 
Leonard,  Chas.  E.,  6. 

Rev.  S.,  54- 

Zephaniah,  25. 

Lester,  Hannah  G.,  63. 

John  F.,  58. 
Levingworth  and  Wells    firm, 

74. 
Lewis,  Prentiss,  9. 

Sheffield,  135. 

Lexington,  36. 
Liberty  meetings,  35. 


159 


Lincoln,  Allen,  17,  47. 

Allen   B.,  3,    5,6,    9,    17, 
39,    and   fol..    88,   129. 

Edgar  S.,  5,  59. 

Frank  M.,  4,  5,  9. 

George,  131. 

John  C.  6. 

Lorin,  4,  9. 

M.  Eugene,  3,  5,  6. 

Stowell,  68. 

typical  family,  28. 
Linen  Co.,  75. 
Little,  Saxton  B.,  61. 
Littlefield,  Jairus,  134. 
Livesey,  Rev.  John,  64. 
Locke,  Wm.  H.,  54, 
Lockman,  DeWitt,  9. 
Long,  Francis  S.,  64. 
Loomer,  Silas,  3,  5,  91. 

Vilatia,  137, 
Loomer's  lumber  yard,  138. 
Loomis,  Andrew,  64. 

Mrs.  Eliza,  9. 

Mrs.  Lavinia,  134. 
Lord,  Daniel,  135. 

Joshua  B,,  85,  91,  135. 

Marian,  135. 
Loring,  A.  D.  4,  9,  45. 

Solomon,  45. 
Lynch,  Jas.  T.  3,  5,  82. 
Lyon,  Gen.  Nathaniel,  65. 

Guards,  64. 
Magoon,  Isaac,  27,  114. 
Manahan,  Geo.  W.,   130. 
Manning,  typical  family,  28 
Mansfield,  4,  9,  24,  27,  28. 
Martin,  typical  family,  28. 

James,  130. 

Deacon  Luther,  131. 

J.  Griffin,  5,  8,  9. 
Mason,  Daniel,  21. 

Capt.  John,  20,  21,  22. 


Mason,  John,   124. 

Samuel,  21,  22. 
Masons,  mention  of,  22. 
Massachusetts      Bay,     settlers 

from,  27. 
May,  Rev.  Geo.,  54. 
Mayflower,  The,  24. 
McAvoy,  James  A.,  5.  137. 
McBurney,  Rev.  S.,  55. 
McCabe,  Rev.  Bernard,  55. 
McCracken,    Geo.  B.,  131. 
McDonald,  John  A.,  6,  88. 
McFarland,  Bishop,  56. 
McManus,  Gen.  Thomas,  13. 
McReading,  Rev.  Chas.  S.,  54. 
McQuade,  Bishop,  56. 
Melony,  block,  53,  133. 

George  W.,  5. 

Norman,  4,  48. 
Memorial  building,  7,  8. 
Merchants  Loan  &  Trust  Co., 


Merrick  Bros.,  6,  8. 
Merrill,  Chas.  F.,  61. 
Merrow,  Joseph  B.,  5. 
Methodists,  54,  55,  80, 
Militia,  state,  50. 
Millard,  typical  family 

Benjamin,  29. 
Miller,  Rev.  George  W 

Samuel  J.,  64,  65 
Miner,  Rev.  Cyrus,  54. 
Monast,  Joseph  E.,  6. 
Montgomer}'  Hose  Co., 
Montreal,  surrender  of 
Morrill,  Principal  A.  B 
Morris,  Jonathan  Flint 

Morrison,  Albert  R.,  5. 
JohnH.,  6. 


135- 
,28. 
M  55- 


II. 
-  35- 
.,  12. 
.  18. 


160 


Morrison,  Henry,  79. 

W.  G.  &  A.  R.   Machine 

Co.,  79. 
Walter  G.,  79. 
William,  130. 

Morse,  Rev.  Charles  H.,  54. 

Moulton,  typical  family,  28. 
Albert  R.,  4>  138. 
Everett  H.,3,  5,  9. 
George  S.,  40. 
Harriet,  60. 
Edward,  140. 
Rev.  Horace,  54. 
John  H..,  3,  5,  6,  58,    131, 

137- 
Col.  Roswell,  91,  131. 
William,  4. 

Mullen,  Rev.  Daniel,  56. 
Murdoch,  typical  family,  28. 

Murray,  Hugh  C,  5. 

James  E.,  3.  5.  6,  138. 

Nason,  George  K.,  6. 

Natchaug  school  building,  60. 
Silk  Company,  78. 

Nesbitt,  George  F.,  73. 

Nesbitt's  wood  type,   73. 

New  Boston,  67. 

"New  England  Home"  news- 
paper, 9,  88. 

New  Haven,  Middletown  and 
Willimantic  R.  R.,  59. 

New  England  Township,  Its 
History  and  Mission, 
116  and  fol. 

New  London  Northern  R.  R., 
58. 

"News"  Willimantic  daily,  88. 

Newspapers  of  Willimantic, 
86  and  fol. 

Newton,  settlers  from,  27. 

New  Village,  76. 


New  York  and   New    England 

R.  R.,  59. 
Ney,  John  M.,  18. 
Nichols,  Rev.  Abel,  52. 
Nipmuck  Path,  15. 

Indians,  20. 
Noble,  Rev.  Charles,  54. 
Non-consumption     ordinance, 

35- 
Normal  Training  school,  61. 
North   and    South   Windham, 

67  and  fol. 
North  Windham  manufac- 
tures, 67  and  fol. 
Oaks,  The,  76. 
Obwebetuck,  38. 
Ohio  Reservation,  34. 
Oldest  houses  in  town,  84. 
Old    stone     school  house,   58, 

61,  139,  140. 
Old  Windham,  40  and  fol. 
Old    Windham  of     to-day,    82 

and  fol. 
Olmstead,  John,  21,  22. 
O'Reillv,   Rev.    Father    Hugh 

'j-  56. 
Ormsby,  typical  family,  28. 
Osborn,  Wm.  H.,  46,  137. 
Otis,  Dr.  Wm.  K.,  136, 

Page,  E.  S.,  131. 

Henry,  4,  8, 

P.  &  Son,  140. 
Palmer,  typical  family,  28  ;    of 
Scotland,  114. 

Rev.  A.  P.,  55. 

Wm.  F.,  49. 
Parochial  School,  56,  61. 
Patriotic  address  issued,  35. 

Peabody,  G.  B.,  9. 
Mrs.  G.  B.,  9. 


161 


Pearl,  Patrick  H.,  4. 
Peck,  Pearl  L.,  50. 
Perkins,  typical  family,  28. 

P.  &  Blish,  135. 

Emeline  L..  19. 

John  A.,  4,  8,  15,  135. 

Miss  Mary,  9. 
Perry,  Albert  L.,  4,  8. 
Peters,  historian    and    parson, 

32,  100. 
Phelps,  Aaron,  80. 

James,  70. 

P.  &  Spafford,  firm,  71. 
Philip,  King,  21. 
"Phoenix"  newspaper,  34. 
Pickering,  Englishman,  67. 

Joseph,  70. 
Pierce,  Timothy,  30. 
Pierson,  Walt,  87. 
Pigeon  Swamp,  69. 
Pinney,  Julius,  5. 
Plains,  The,  50. 
Piatt,  Dennis,  53. 
Plattsburg,  63. 
Polling  places,  46. 
Pomeroy,  Chas  B.,  6. 
Pondes,  The,  23. 
Population,  41,  92. 
Porter,  Miss  Sarah,   130. 
Post,  William,  130. 
Post,  John,  22. 

Post,  of  Foster  &  Post  firm,67, 
Potter,  Niles,  91,  133. 

William  N.,  6, 
Potvin,  Theodore,  5. 
Powder  Mills,  36. 
Powell,  Principal,  61. 
Preliminary  Efforts  for,Bi-Cen- 

tennial,  3. 
Prentice,  Robert,  132. 
Presbyterian  Church,  53. 


Progressive  Lyceum,  57. 

Protestants,  61. 

"Public  Medium"  newspaper, 

87. 
Purington,  Rev.  Wm,,  54. 
Purinton.  Geo.  H  ,  5. 
Putnam  Phalanx,  7. 
Quinn,  Rev.  Father  J.  J.,  13. 
Railroads,  The,  57. 
Raisley,  Rev.  J.  E.,  54. 
Ramsdell,  Rev.  H.,  54. 

Thomas,  8,  43. 
Ransom,  Rev.  Reuben,  54. 
Rathbun,  Elias,  132. 

Julius  G.,  4,  18. 
Reading  Coal  Co.,  58. 
"Record",     daily    newspaper, 

88. 
Reed,  typical  family,  28. 

E.  F,,  130. 

Rev.  George  E.,  55. 
Reform  Church    and    Society, 

57- 
Reforms,  Windham  in,  80. 
Rehoboth,  settlers  from,  27. 
Relics,  Exhibition  of,   142  and 

following. 
Remington,  Homer  E.,  6. 
Revolution,  Windham  in    the, 

35  and  following. 
Richardson.  Leander,  60. 
Richmond,  Perez  O.,  45. 
Rifle  Company,  50. 
Ripley,  typical  family,  28. 

Brothers,  64. 

Eleazer  H.,  64. 

Hezekiah,  25. 

Jeremiah,  23. 

Joshua,  23,  30. 

Joshua  D.,  30. 

Nehemiah,  31. 


162 


Risley,  Oliver  H.  K.,  5. 
Robbery   of    Windham    Bank 

83- 
Robbins,  typical  family,  28. 

Miss  Josephine   M.,    16, 
108. 
Robert,  Louis,   70. 
Robinson,  typical  family,  28; 

of  Scotland,  114. 

Rev.  A.  54. 

Andrew,  53. 

Calvin,  81,  139. 

Israel,  4,  9,  132. 

Mrs.  J.  C,  139- 

Luther,  138. 

Nathaniel,  138. 

Orrin,  81. 

Remus,  60. 

"Aunt  Rushy",  81 
Rogers,  Frederic,  6. 

Rev.  Geo.  W.,  54. 
Rollinson,  Joseph,  139. 
Rood,  Rufus,  8,  15. 
Root,  Thomas,  30. 
Ross,  James  H.,  6. 
Rudd,  typical  family,   28. 
Rust,  Nathaniel,  30. 

Safford,  Addison,  139. 
Fayette,  88. 
Dr.  Jason,  134. 

Salem,  settlers  from,  27. 

Saltonstall,  mention  of  family, 
24. 

Saunders,  Rev.  E.  W.,  52. 

Savings  Institute,  82. 

Sawyer,  typical  family,  28. 

Scoville,  Charles,  81. 

Schools   of   Windham,  59  and 
following. 

Scotch   Presbyterian    descend- 
ants, 114. 


Scotland,  4,  9,  47,  112    and  fol- 
lowing. 
Scott,  John,  5,  131. 

Gen.  Winfield  S.,  63. 
Searing,  Rev.  R.  C,  56. 
Sectaries,  43,  51. 
Select  School  for  boys,  52. 
Separatist  agitation,  26,  42,51. 
Sessions,  Daniel,  90. 
Shad  fishing,  43. 
Sharpe,  Rev.  Andrew,  5,  53. 
Shaw,  Betty,  execution  of,  31. 
Sherman,  Rev.  Henry  B.,  52. 
Shoe  Industry,  90. 
Silk  Manufacture,  32. 
Simons,  typical  family,  20. 
Simpson,  C.  S.,  87. 
Six  Nations,  The,  33. 
Skiff,  typical  family,  28. 
Slaves  in  Windham,  90. 
Slavery  abolished  in  Conn., 90. 
Sliding  Falls,  28. 
Small  Pox  scourge,  84, 
Smith,  typical  family,  28. 

A.  D.  and  J.   Y.,    (Gov- 
ernor), 46. 

Benajah,  12,  65. 

Charles,  4,  8.  71,  74,  84. 

C.  M.,   19. 

Captain  David,  50.' 

Guilford,  3,  5,  8,    15,    16, 
74,  122. 

Mrs.  Guilford,  9. 

James,  4,  8. 

John,  84,  139. 

Joshua,  69. 

"Pete"  old  slave,  90. 

Scott,  84,  139. 

William,  4,   15,  46,  59. 

S.,  Winchester  &  Co  ,  69, 
72,  74,  75,  84. 

S.  &  Byrne,  140. 


Kia 


vSmithville  Co.,  46,  80. 
Suell,  typical  family,  28. 

Thomas,   29,  31. 
Sodom,  81. 
South  Windham,  32,  52,  69  and 

following'. 
Sontliwortli,  typical  family, 28. 
Spafford,  typical  family,  28. 

George,  5,  68,  69,  70,  71, 
72,  140. 

Henry,  4,  8. 

Jesse,  49. 
Spaulding,  Asa,  25. 
Spencer,  typical  family,  28. 

PVeeman  D.,  4,  8. 
Spiritualists,  57. 
Sprague,  Gov.,  65. 
Stage  coaches,  43. 
St.  Jean  Baptist  Society.  15. 
St.   Joseph's    Roman  Catholic 

Parish,  11, 
Stamp  Act,  effect  in  Windham, 

35- 
Staniford,  typical  family,  28. 

Colonel,  62. 

Inn,  15,  43,  89. 
Stanton,  Robert,  9. 
Starkweather,  Ephraim,  25. 

Henry  C,  4,   19.   . 

Nathan,  18. 
Stearns,  Rev.    Geo,  I.,  17,  52. 
Sterry,  James,  132, 
Stewart,  Robert,  60. 
Stiles,  Geo.  E.,  6. 
Stoddard,  Allen,  91. 
vStone,  Edward,   130. 
Storrs,  Augustus,  4. 

William,  58. 
Stubbs,  Rev.  Alfred  H.,  52. 
Sullivan,  Jeremiah  O',  4,  5,  8. 


Sumner,  Elliott  B.,  5. 

Dr.  E.  G.,  9. 
Sumter,  Fall  of  Fort,  64. 
Susquehanna  Company,  33, 
Swan,  Rev.  Jabez,  51. 
Swedes,  92. 
Sweeney,  Wm.  J.,  6. 
Sweet,  Stutely,  89. 
Sweetland,  Ira,   131. 

Swift,  Grant,  59. 

hill,  96. 
'vMrs.  Julia,  9. 

Justin,  46,  50,  68,  90. 

Rowland,  18. 

Storrs,  4. 

Zephaniah,    19,     40,    43. 
89. 
Taintor,  typical  family.  28, 

Chas.,  67,  68,  89. 

John,  67. 

Henry  E.,  64. 

Mrs.  Mary  D.,  9. 

T.  Abbe  &  Badger,  firm, 
67. 
Talcott,  Hart,  18. 
Tanner.  Warren,  134. 
Tarbox,  Dr.  Asahel,  120. 
Taverns  of  Windham,  43. 
Taylor,  Geo.  F.,  5. 

Gen.  Zachary,  63. 
Teaming  industry,  59, 
Temperance    Question,    57,    81 

and  following. 
Temple  street,  136. 
Temple  of  Fashion,   136. 
Terry,  D.  F.,  130. 
Tew,  James,  86. 

John,  86. 

William,  86. 
Thompson,  Rev.  Frank,  52. 
Throop,    Benjamin    and   Will- 
iam, 25. 

Dver,  25. 


1B4 


Tiffany,  Georj^e,  130. 

Tighes,  Jas.,  6. 

Tildeu,  Rev.  Chester,  54,  134. 

Chester,  Jr.,  4,  9,   134. 

Marshall,  5. 
Tingley.  A.  C,  129. 

T.  &  Watson,  firm,  46. 

house,   T31. 
Tirrell,  Rev.  Eben,  55. 
Todd,  Rev.  Charles,  52. 
Toll-gate  and  house,  48,  130. 
Townsend,  Rev.  P.,  54. 
Tracy,    typical    family,    28;  of 
Scotland,   114. 

Lieut.  Thos. 
Training  Days,  50. 
"Transcript",  newspaper,  87. 
Tremont  house,  133. 
Trumbull,       "Brother       Jona- 
than," 28,  36. 
Truscott,  Robert,   132. 
Turner,  Albert  S.,  6. 

Arthur  G.,  5,  79,  89. 

Chauncey,  4,  130. 

Melancthon,  134. 

Thomas,  156. 

T.  &  Wilson,  84. 
Turnpike  Company,  42. 

Lines,  42. 
Tyler,  Rev.  John,  51,  52. 
Uncas,  20.  21. 
Universalism,  17. 
Universalist  Church,  87,  140. 
Utley,  Chas.  R.,  6,  131. 

John  R.,  4. 
Vaughn,  Douglass,  138, 
Verplanck,  F.  A.,  61. 
Vincent,  Rev.  Hebron,  54, 

Wagons,  42. 


Walden,  typical  family,  28. 

James,  3,  5,7,  89,  91,  135. 

John  L.,  6. 
Waldo,  typical  Scotland    fam- 
ily,  114. 
Wales,  typical  family.  28. 

Henry  N.,  91. 

Nathan,  33. 

Nathaniel,  Jr.,  36. 

William,  4,  8,   122. 
Walworth,  Reuben  H.,  63. 
Ward,  Rev.  K.,  54. 
Warner  house,  60. 
Warner,  typical  family,  28. 
Washburn,  Edgar  S.,  5. 
Washington,  Gen.,  14,  28,  36. 

Monument,  43. 
Washingtonian  movement,  82. 
Waterman,  Rev.  Elijah,  51. 
Watkins  hanging,  50. 
Weaver,  Davis,  137. 

Elisha,  49. 

Thos.  Snell,  9,  16,  20  and 
following,  87,  88,  137. 

William  L.,  16, ',20,  60,  61, 
87,  91.  133.  138. 
Webb,    typical  family,*  28  ;   of 
Scotland,  11  j. 

Arthur  B.,   19. 

Frank  F.,  5,  8. 

Mrs.  Frank  F.,  9. 

Henry,  87. 

Joel.  36. 

JoelW.,3,  5,  6. 

old  family  place,  15. 

Peter,  44. 

William,  91. 
Webster,  Chas.  F.,  61. 

Noah  D..  6. 
Welch,  typical  family,   28. 

John  B.,  61. 


165 


Wells,  Rev.  L.  H.,  56. 

of   Levingsworth  &    W. 
firm,  74. 
Welsh,  Daniel,  25. 
West,  Ebenezer,  30. 
Wetlierell,  Daniel,  22, 
Wheat,  Pasdon  A.  C.  54. 
Wheeler,  Rev.  E.  S.,  54. 

George,  141. 

John  D.,  61,   131. 

Rev.  L.  W.,  54. 
Wheelock,    Rev.    Eleazer,    D. 

D.,  37- 
White,  typical  family,  28. 

"Old  Cruse"  slave,  90. 

Rev.  Moses,  80. 

Parson,  33. 

Rev,  Stephen,  21,  51. 
Whiting,  typical  family,  28,  99. 

Elizabeth,  24. 

John,  24. 

Rev.  John,  24. 

Nathan,  35. 

Rev.  Samuel,  24,   30,  34, 
124. 

Samuel,  Jr.,  24,  34. 
Whittemore  Park,  138. 
Wilkinson,  Ahab,   139. 

Gen.  63. 

Joanna,  140-1. 
Willard,    Rev.    S.    G.,  53.  130, 

132. 
Williams,  A.  B..  91. 

Arthur,  9. 

Elisha,  85,  139. 

Mrs.  E.  H.,  19. 

Ralph,  130. 

Roger,  5. 

Wightman,  49,  132. 

Willimantuck,  first  settlement, 

23- 
In  1850,  139  and  fol. 


Willimantic  Linen  Co.,  75. 

Newspapers,    86  and  fol. 
Wilson,  of  Turner  &   W.    firm, 
84. 

C.  H.,  9. 

Frank  M.,  5,  S4,  135. 

Jesse,  137. 

Isaac,  134. 
Winchester,  Arthur  S.,  5,  9,15. 

E.  Clinton,  3,  5. 

Harvey,  72. 
Windham,  4,  24,  29,  30,  44. 
Windham  Bank,  80,  83. 

Bank  Robbery,  83. 

Churches,  51. 

County  "Herald,"  62. 

Green,   14,  28. 

Manufacturing  Co  ,    46, 

59.  79.  84,  91- 

in  Reforms,  80. 

Schools,  59. 

The  Coasting  Vessel,  41, 
106. 

in  War,  62. 
Windham's  First   Century,    20 

and  following. 
Windham's    Second    Century, 

39  and  following. 
Winslow,  Rev.  Horace,    4,    19. 

50,  53- 
Wiswall,  Rev.  F.  M.,  5. 
Witter,  Dr.,  49,  85,  89,  132,133- 

Wm.  C,  4. 
Wolcott,  typical  family,  28. 

Roger,  31. 
Wood,  Lieut.  Chas.,  64. 
Wood  type,  72. 
Woodward,  Dr.  Ashbel,  66. 

Rev.  John  W.,  52. 

Joseph,   137. 

P.  H.,  18,  66. 
Woodworth,  Chester.  9. 
Wool,  Gen.,  65. 


166 


Wooster,  Gen.,  24. 
Work,  James  H.,  91, 
Worth,  Rev.  Wm.  T,,  55. 
Wyoming  Valley,  33-4. 
Yale  College,  24,  25,  31,  53. 
Yergason,  B.  S.,  9. 
Yorktown,  35. 
"Younger    Generation", 
and  following. 


116 


Young,  Alfred,  84,  131 
Chas.,  84. 
Frank  A.,  61. 
Fred  S.,  6. 
Henry,  138. 
Ulysses,  138. 

Youngs  hotel,  91,  133. 


PRESS  OF  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  HOME,   HARTFORD. 


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